Vindicated
by Believe in Fairy Tales
Summary: Shock joins Fairy Tail after fleeing a traumatic childhood, eager to be reunited with her old friend Levy. Then she meets Gajeel, someone who knows her pain. Can these two shattered souls really mend after all they've endured?
1. Alibi

**Welcome to anyone reading this :)**

**I've recently developed a sort of obsession with Fairy Tail (Hiro Mashima is my new hero), and was really keen to write a fic based on it :3**

**My two favourite characters at the moment are Grey Fullbuster and Gajeel Redfox X3 but this fic is featuring Gajeel as the main lead (because I just love him that much). I'll think of doing a Grey-centric fic at a later stage, when I've figured out a decent plot for it.**

**This story will contain one or two OC's but other than that, most of the characters from Fairy Tail will make an appearance.**

**Thanks for taking the time to read this :) I encourage you to listen to the songs relating to each chapter, it will help convey the feeling of the story more effectively :P and they're also really great songs X3**

**A ginormous THANK YOU to Aikoyu Saotome for Beta-reading this story and making sure it's in tip-top shape before I send it whizzing about into cyber space :D **

**As always, feedback is encouraged and appreciated :D**

**General disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail (although I sincerely wish I did), or any songs used in this story. The rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima and the respective artists of the various songs.**

**1. Alibi (30 Seconds to Mars)**

_**No warning sign, no alibi**_

_**We're fading faster than the speed of light**_

_**Took our chance, crashed and burned**_

_**No we'll never ever learn**_

_**I fell apart, but got back up again**_

_**And then I fell apart, but got back up again**_

_**We both could see, crystal clear, that the inevitable end was near**_

_**Made our choice, trial by fire**_

_**To battle is the only way we feel alive**_

_**I fell apart, but got back up again**_

_**And then I fell apart, but got back up again**_

_**So here we are, reaching out**_

_**The quickest tongue to divide and devour**_

_**Divide and devour**_

_**If I could end the quest for fire**_

_**For truth, for love and not desire**_

_**My soul**_

_**And I fell apart, but got back up again**_

_Cold. All I could feel was the harsh, biting cold. It sliced through your clothes, seeped under your skin. It froze your very bones. The only way to fight the cold was to keep warm – keep moving. I suppose that's why they had built the camp in such a frigid, barred region – to motivate the inmates to either keep working or freeze to death._

_That's all we did, day in and day out. We worked. We trained. We fought. We followed orders like dogs because we had no other choice. This was a conscripted military camp. There was no such thing as 'choice' here._

_As I lay on the hard wooden board that served as my bed, covered by only a thin, tattered blanket, I couldn't help but think back to the first day I had been brought to the camp. I had been brought here when I was twelve, forcefully removed from the streets I had been living on._

_They didn't care how old you were when they brought you in. If you had a working body, you could be trained to fight and put to work. That was all they cared about. It took them a week to 'break' me – beat me down until I had no other option but to follow their rules, or risk death. Sometimes, I wished they would kill me, end my suffering. But they were too cruel for that. They wouldn't waste a perfectly good soldier for nothing._

_They had stuck me in with all the other rookies. They stuck us all in a long wooden hut with no mattresses and only a single blanket each. We received two meals a day – gruel for breakfast and gruel for dinner. After the first week, they started 'conditioning' us. Training us to be the future defense force of the country._

_They worked us like dogs. For eighteen hours a day, we trained – physical exercise, hand-to-hand combat, weapons skills, learning to shoot, disassemble, reassemble and reload guns, and many other things that would make us the perfect soldiers._

_We weren't allowed to speak to the other inmates. They needed us to be cold, efficient killing machines. There wasn't meant to be any capacity in our hearts for compassion or friendship. Friends made you weak, they got you killed._

_I huddled into a tight little ball under my blanket. That was six years ago. I had been going through this harsh routine, in this merciless weather, day in and day out for six long years. Six long, painful, lonely years. But enough was enough. I was finally ready to be free of this torture. I clutched the small cotton sack I held in my arms even closer to my shivering chest._

_Today would be the day I broke out._

_Inside the bag were my nine methods of escape – nine jeweled tiger's heads, each an elemental charm key. My mother had left them to me before she…before she…_

_I pushed the painful memory to the back of my mind. I had to stay focused. One slip-up, and it would all be over. _

_I was an Elemental Charm Mage. I had had some simple practice with my charms before I had been conscripted, but I knew enough about how to use them to break free. It had been no easy task keeping them hidden from the generals and other camp officials who led routine searches through the dorms, but all my patience was finally going to pay off._

_I waited until lights out, when the officials would retire to the warmth of their heated brick cabins and thick fleece blankets. After the dorms had been thrown into darkness, I waited another hour or so to make sure all my fellow inmates were asleep. If they knew what I was about to do, they would definitely try to stop me. No one had made it out of here alive, before now._

_When I was sure no one else was awake, I threw my blanket off and slowly rose to my feet. I had managed to snag an extra coat and pair of fatigues from the washroom, so I was prepared for the harsh cold I was about to enter. I crept to the doorway, careful not to kick or step on anyone on my way past._

_I paused when I reached the entrance of the dorms and turned, looking one last time at the wooden hut that had been my 'home' for the past six years. After a moment, I turned my back to it. There was no going back._

_I carefully opened my satchel and drew out they charm I had selected form my escape – it was no bigger than the palm of my hand, studded with precious stones that glittered in the pale moonlight. If the officials had caught hold of these, they would have sold them for sure. Elemental keys were extremely rare. But I wouldn't let them have them. They were the only thing I had left to remind me of my mother now._

_They were my salvation._

_The charm I held was studded with quartz crystals that glittered like ice in the palm of my hand. Two sets of glazed black stripes, three on each side of the tiger's head, contrasted sharply with the clear brilliance of the stones. Two deep blue amazonite eyes stared into mine as I readied myself to access the magic lying dormant within the small charm. It was now or never._

_Taking a deep breath and seizing the moment before my courage could desert me, I pressed the cold metal figurine to my lips, silently calling the magic forth with the words I had been taught so long ago. I felt a brief surge of power as the charm's magic washed over me, lending me its power._

_A sudden breeze sprang up outside, blowing my hair back from my face and powdering me in a fresh layer of snow. I clenched my fist. I didn't know much about how to fully use the power of the charms , but I was going to make the most of what I knew. _

…

_I was running, bolting through the thick snowdrifts, kicking up clouds of powdery white snow as I went. I could hear them behind me, shouting, revving the engines on their snowmobiles as they gave chase. _

_My face and other extremities had long since gone numb with cold, but I couldn't stop. Not now._

_My Air charm had gotten me as far as was possible with my limited skills, and now the rest was up to me. I could hear the guard dogs barking as they chased after me in a mad frenzy, driven insane with the thrill of the chase and the promise of bloodshed if they caught me._

_Hot tears spilled down my cheeks as I pushed myself harder, bashing my way through thick mountains of snow as it continued to rain down in a blizzard. A few more feet and I would be in the safety of the trees…just a few more feet…_

_I screamed as a huge monster of a dog launched itself at me from atop a large boulder, its gigantic knife-sharp teeth aimed for my throat. The damn thing had been waiting for me while the rest of the pack made sure I strayed into its trap. Those damn guards had trained them too well…_

_I couldn't move. My feet were frozen to the ground from a mixture of fear and the below-zero temperatures. This was it. I was about to get my head torn off by a rabid mongrel. _

_Massive clawed paws struck me in the shoulder, knocking me forcefully to the ground. I cried out again as the full weight of the beast landed heavily on my chest, pinning me down. It glared at me with blood-crazed eyes blacker than the dead of night, before its massive jaw snapped downwards…_

Shock woke abruptly, a scream torn from her throat. She sat bolt upright in bed, the covers pooling down around her waist. Her breathing was labored, and her skin slick with sweat. It took her a few moments to realize where she was. She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down and soothe her panicked mind. She closed her eyes, focusing on the rapid thumping of her heart.

She was okay. She was in her room in the old mage's cabin. There were no guards or rabid dogs here. The camp would never find her out here.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, wiping the messy strands from her forehead. Her body gradually relaxed. It was just that damn nightmare again…the same one that had been plaguing her for the last six months. The memory just wouldn't leave her alone. Her mind was constantly reminding her of the subconscious fear that the camp would eventually find her and tow her back to hell.

Shock took another few deep breaths. The camp wouldn't find her. She would be moving on soon, to the city of Magnolia. They would never look for her there. Once she was in Magnolia, she would be safe.

Shock slid out of bed, stretching her lithe body as she did so. She looked out the window at the grassy meadow outside. The tall stalks of green grass were swaying gently in the breeze, and she could see the blue silhouettes of the mountains in the distance. It was so peaceful here.

Shock frowned. But she had to leave. Her aim was to get to Magnolia as soon as possible, and find the guild of mages called Fairy Tail. She had heard on her travels that her old friend Levi was a member.

The nineteen-year-old mage tugged off the short-sleeved shirt she had been sleeping in, slipping on a black sleeveless tank top in its place. Shock's aim was to join Fairy Tail. She had nowhere else to go. There wasn't anyone else she could trust, besides the old woman who had taken her in all those months ago. She had to get to Magnolia and find Levi. She would help, Shock was sure of it.

She quickly changed the rest of her outfit, swapping her shorts for baggy cargo pants and tugging on her dark brown combat boots.

Fairy Tail was meant to be one of the strongest guilds out there. Shock was sure they could help her become stronger. And from what she had heard, it didn't sound like a half-bad place to restart her life.

She ambled over to the small wooden desk at the other end of the room, eyeing the belt that lay across it. It was covered in small, evenly-spaced loops. Each loop had one of her Elemental Charms clipped to it. All nine of them glittered when the early-morning sunlight struck them, dazzling Shock as she gazed at them.

Water, covered in aquamarine jewels with twin sapphire stones for eyes. Fire, with fire opal gems for skin and rubies for eyes. The Air charm, made of quartz and amazonite. The key that had helped her escape the military camp all those months ago. Shock regarded the Soul charm – it was probably one of her most dangerous, mainly because it was so tricky to use. Made with diamonds and blood-red garnet stones for eyes, it was every bit as beautiful as it was deadly.

Her most two contradictory charms lay side by side, Light and Shadow. Where one was covered in bright blue tanzanite, the other was bathed in dark lapis lazuli. Light's moonstone eyes were the complete opposite of Shadow's onyx orbs.

Lightning caught her attention next. Shock smiled when she looked at it – her mother had always told her that it had been the inspiration for her name, because she had been fascinated with it as a child. It was made of citrine quartz and had glittering diamonds for eyes, and she could easily see why it had always caught her interest when she was younger.

The last two charms on her belt were among the most dangerous, almost as deadly as Soul – Time and Psych. Time was covered in opal and had eyes made of tiger's eye stones, and Psych was made from red tiger's eye and carnelian.

Shock looked down at her belt, giving each charm another once-over. Each of them were as beautiful as they were powerful, some maybe too powerful. But Shock didn't care for their power. All she cared about was the fact that they had been given to her by her mother, and they were all she had left to remember her by now.

Shock promptly reached out and lifted the belt off the table, fastening it around her waist. She turned to the doorway and grabbed the pack lying beside it. She slung it over her shoulder as she walked down the corridor to the kitchen. She would be leaving for Magnolia in a few minutes; it was only proper that she say goodbye to the old mage that had taken her in and cared for her for these last few months. Besides taking care of her, the old woman had also taught her how to control her charms better.

Shock was quite proud of the fact that she was a fairly powerful Elemental Charm Mage now, with that old woman's help.

She entered the kitchen to find it empty, but with the back door wide open. Shock smiled gently, seeing the note left on the table. Neither of them had ever been fond of goodbyes. She scribbled another note on the bottom of the small piece of paper.

A few moments later, the girl was gone.

**And there you have it! Chapter one :D please tell me what you guys thought :3**

**I'm going to manage this story like all my other multi-chapter fics – if you guys want an update, then you'll have to review :3 once I receive at least two reviews for the latest chapter, I'll update :D fair enough, I think :)**

**Just a warning - I may take longer than I would like to update this story, because of schoolwork and such, but I WILL update as regularly as possible and I most definately WILL NOT forget about this. Please be patient when waiting for updates :)**

**And if anyone has a song or idea they would like me to incorporate into the story, let me know – all ideas are welcome and appreciated!**


	2. Best Of You

**Thanks for the support, guys! You make this so rewarding ^^**

**Zero0o0zero – thank you! :3 Gajeel is so awesome, right? :D**

**Aikoyu Saotome – I'm really glad you have such a good opinion about this story! :D I really do appreciate your input as a Beta-reader, it gives me the confidence to put out my work with the assurance that it's at the level it should be X3 and thanks so much! That you think I'm good means a lot to me ^^**

**And without further ado, here's chapter two! (Excuse the random rhyme, that was completely unintentional X3)**

**2. Best of You (Foo Fighters)**

**I've got another confession to make**

**I'm your fool**

**Everyone's got their chains to break**

**Holding you**

**Were you born to resist, or be abused?**

**Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?**

**I needed somewhere to hang my head without your noose**

**You gave me something that I didn't have, but had no use**

**I was too weak to give in, too strong to lose**

**My heart is under arrest again, but I break loose**

**My head is giving me life or death, but I can't choose**

**I swear I'll never give in, I refuse**

**Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?**

**Has someone taken your faith?**

**It's real, the pain you feel**

**Your trust, you must confess**

**Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?**

**Has someone taken your faith?**

**It's real, the pain you feel**

**The life, the love, you've got to heal**

**The hope, the starts, the broken hearts**

**Your trust, you must confess**

**Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?**

**I've got another confession, my friend**

**I'm no fool**

**I'm getting tired of starting again somewhere new**

**Were you born the resist, or be abused?**

**I swear I'll never give in, I refuse**

After nine months of near isolation living with the mage in that cabin in the countryside, Shock was more than a little intimidated by the sheer number of people that roamed the streets of Magnolia.

Peasants, hawkers, stall owners, merchants, wealthy businessmen, young children…all of them flooded the cobbled streets in a vibrant, pulsing crowd of people. And they certainly were a noisy bunch, too.

Shock frowned, pulling her long coat tighter around her body, effectively hiding her charms from view. The last thing she wanted was some street urchin taking an interest in them, even though she had cast protective spells over them before she entered the city. She swallowed nervously. The loud noise level reminded her all too vividly of the battlefields she had been forced to fight on during her conscription. Except instead of the screams of her comrades and the boom of cannon fire, there was the hollering of the merchants advertising their wares and the rattle of wooden carts over the bumpy cobblestones.

Shock had to force herself to take a deep breath and relax. This wasn't a battlefield. It was a city. A perfectly normal…city.

She pursed her lips in concentration, searching for any sign of the road that would take her to Fairy Tail. The city was so vast - she didn't have a clue where she was going. Shock spun n a little circle, scanning the street markers for any clue to which direction to go.

Her attention was drawn to a pair of people pushing their way through the bustling street. Or, more accurately, one person pushing and shoving through while dragging another more hesitant person behind him. Shock wasn't sure, but it was possible that the one in front was making more of a noise than the entire crowd combined.

He had the most oddly coloured hair – sort of a pale shade of pink – and a silver scarf wrapped around his neck despite the intense summer heat. He dragged a large-bosomed blonde woman behind him, who was seemingly as lost in the bustling city streets as Shock was. Then something else caught the Charm mage's eye – the guild stamp on the man's upper arm.

It was the guild stamp of Fairy Tail.

Shock's mouth set itself in a determined line as she pushed through the dense crowds after the noisy pair. This was her chance to find the guild – she couldn't afford to lose them now.

It was tough work following them, that was for sure – the pink-haired mage literally blasted through the crowd, leaving scores of dazed citizens in his wake. Shock felt sorry for the woman he was towing behind him – she looked ready to drop dead from the embarrassment of it all.

Eventually, she managed to tail the pair all the way to a large wooden building near the centre of the city. The pink-haired man barged inside, and even from her position across the street, Shock could hear the obnoxiously loud, "WE'RE BACK!" that followed.

She took a moment to assess the guild she now stood before. Months of hoping and dreaming, and finally she was here. She stood dwarfed in the building's large shadow, slightly intimidated by the sheer size of the establishment. Her eyes eventually came to land on the wooden beam supporting the entrance of the building. The guild's name and emblem was proudly emblazoned on the well-worn wood.

Shock smiled before gingerly pushing the front door open and stepping inside.

She was greeted by a scene of complete and utter chaos.

Chairs and tables were thrown around the room, glasses smashed over heads and fists connecting with various other body parts. There barely seemed to be any people in the room who _weren't_ involved in the gigantic brawl. In the centre of it were the pink-haired man she had followed earlier, and another black-haired man of around the same age. Shock was slightly taken aback by the black-haired mage's blatant lack of clothing. She leaned a little to the left as a beer tumbler came flying at her head, letting it smash harmlessly against the door. And yet, when Shock looked closer, everyone seemed to be…smiling.

The entire fight seemed to be like a friendly brawl with a sibling…the entire place reminded Shock of a family.

"Shock! Shock, is that you?" the Charm mage was suddenly alerted to another presence hurtling towards her from the side. In less than a second, the bubbling ball of energy that was Levy McGarden slammed into her.

Shock grinned and returned her old friend's near-suffocating hug. "Levy! I'm so glad to see you!"

"It's been _years!"_ the blue-haired solid-script mage exclaimed, releasing Shock and holding her at an arm's length to get a good look at her. "Where have you _been_?"

Shock smiled ruefully and shook her head. "It's a long story."

Levy's grin settled into an understanding smile as she nodded. "One I'm sure you'll tell me in due course. What are you doing here, of all places?"

Shock sighed, smiling as she looked around the noisy guild hall. "I came looking to start a new life here. Think you can help?"

Levy's grin returned. "You bet!" she paused, looking at the chaotic fight still raging around them. Levy rolled her eyes and took Shock's wrist.

"You'll have to excuse them, this is a regular occurrence," she explained as she led Shock around the outskirts of the room. "They're like a bunch of little kids sometimes."

Shock just laughed. An odd sensation filtered into her heart, something akin to contentment. Well, as close to contentment as she had ever come.

Maybe this place would be the family she never had.

…

About an hour or two later, Shock had been introduced to most of the Fairy Tail mages - after the brawl had been firmly silenced by Erza and Master Makarov, of course. Levy had explained to her that the pink and black-haired mages who had been fighting earlier were long-time rivals, but were much closer to best friends than either of them would be willing to admit. The obnoxiously loud one was called Natsu, and he was a flame mage trained in the magic of Dragonslayer. That piqued Shock's curiosity quite a bit – the old mage had told her that that kind of magic had been long extinct, along with the dragons that had developed it.

The black-haired boy was Grey Fullbuster, an ice mage. Shock could understand why he and Natsu were fighting all the time – fire and ice didn't exactly mix very well. Though Levy had tried to explain it, she still couldn't figure out why he had an odd habit of stripping his clothes at any given time.

Erza Scarlet was like the law-enforcer of the guild. Everyone was scared of her, especially Grey and Natsu. Shock only had to take one look at her glare and threatening suits of armor, and she was inclined to agree with them.

The blonde girl Shock had first seen Natsu with was Lucy. Levy spoke very highly of her, saying how she was an aspiring author and the like. Shock had chuckled. Levy liked everyone who loved books as much as she did. Shock was pleasantly surprised to find out that Lucy hadn't joined much longer before she had – it comforted her that she wasn't the only newbie around with much to learn.

Now Shock sat at one of the recently replaced picnic tables in the guild's bar with Levy and a few of the other mages – among them were the solid-script mage's team mates, Jet and Droy. Shock found it quite amusing how both of them seemed head over heels for Levy and she just completely ignored their advances.

The Charm mage absent-mindedly rubbed her lower back – over the spot where she had just received her guild stamp. She seemed to be re-assuring herself that it was actually there – that she had made it to her goal after all and it wasn't just some antagonizing dream. She would finally be able to stop running. She could finally start rebuilding the shattered shards of her life and move forward. She had found Levy. Levy would help.

Shock listened to the group that surrounded her as she sat at the table. Erza, Grey, Natsu, Lucy, Jet, Droy and another new member Levy had introduced as Juvia had all been trying their best to make her feel at home. Shock let a small smile curve her lips as she watched them laugh, shout, argue and smile together. This is what it should have always been like. A family.

But, as much as they had tried, they just couldn't seem to draw Shock into their conversations. She would answer their direct questions with one-word replies and nods or shakes of her head, but nothing more. Shock bowed her head and sighed ruefully. After all those years in the camp, not being able to interact with her fellow inmates, she still wasn't used to having the attention of so many new people. As much as she wanted to fit in, she just couldn't find it in herself to let those walls she had held so firmly in place to protect herself drop even a fraction.

She wanted to be part of their family, she really did. But right now…she just didn't feel strong enough. In time, Shock was sure she would be able to adjust, get stronger, let go of her demons. But now…it was too soon, too much.

Leaving the others to what seemed like quite an involved conversation, Shock let her gaze wander around the large guild hall. She took in the warm wooden furniture and counters, the thick beams supporting the pitched roof overhead, the notice board at the other end of the room displaying all the jobs the guild had been requested for. The room was basically empty because of the sheer number of mages who had gone out to complete the jobs on the notice board.

She let her eyes trail over the polished table, still astounded as to how different this place was from the camp. Nothing here was dirty, the people were nothing close to hostile, there were no guards. There was no cold.

But as soon as the thought entered her head, Shock's gaze landed on a dark figure hunched over one of the table further down the room. One look at the mage's face told her that, even here, there were people as cold as the permanent ice from the conscription camp.

Long, mane-like hair, dark clothes, metal studs along his eyebrows, chin and on either side of his nose…but his eyes – one look at those eyes, and Shock was left with a sense of confusion she hadn't felt in a long time.

The stranger's eyes were so cold – Shock could feel a chill creeping up her spine by just glancing at them. He glared around the room while tearing into what looked and sounded like a tin can, his entire body radiating hostility. But when Shock looked at his eyes, all she saw was…weariness. Maybe even a hint of loneliness. It just didn't add up – this guild…everyone she had met was so open, so welcoming, and yet there sat one of their fellow mages, completely isolated and alone. It didn't make sense to her.

Levy, noticing her friend's distraction, hadn't been paying much attention to the argument raging at their table. She watched Shock look around the room, chuckling at the wonder in her eyes. It made Levy think about what terrible thing could have happened that had made Shock such a reclusive creature, so different to the outspoken girl she had once been.

Levy followed Shock's line of sight as it travelled around the room, and eventually came to rest on Gajeel, who sat a few tables away. Levy sighed. The ex-Phantom Lord mage still refused to interact with anyone in the guild, especially after the incident with Laxus…

Shock was slightly startled when Levy's petite hand rested on her shoulder. Prying her eyes away from the human ice block a few tables away, she transferred her questioning gaze to Levy's smiling face.

"That's Gajeel, in case you were wondering," Levy explained, motioning her head towards the black-haired man. She was careful not to raise her voice too loud so the others wouldn't hear – they were still a little…unreceptive to the new mage.

Shock looked back at Gajeel, who had by now managed to polish off three more tin cans and seemed as irritated as ever. She glanced at Levy again. "Why's he all alone when there are so many friendly people in this guild?"

Levy smiled ruefully, something Shock didn't miss. She had seen her fair share of rueful smiles in the past ten years. Shock raised an eyebrow, prompting Levy to explain.

The solid-script mage sighed. "Gajeel used to be a mage for a guild called Phantom Lord. He did some...undesirable things against this guild." Levy frowned, looking between Shock and Gajeel. "We don't know why he joined, but since he has, he's tried his best to redeem himself for past wrongs. But the people here aren't so forgiving for some of the things he did."

A contemplative expression settled onto Shock's face as she returned her gaze to Gajeel. "What sort of things?"

Levy's tone was very hesitant when she answered. "Things best not discussed at hostile tables."

Shock nodded. She knew Levy would tell her later. Her eyes didn't stray from Gajeel for a while, though. Everyone has their scars; things about their pasts they would rather keep hidden.

And she was determined to find out what they were.


	3. I'm With You

**And here is chapter 3! ^^**

**Aikoyu Saotome: Thanks! ^^ I always try and make my OC's relatable so people can identify with them more :P I find it pretty useless to have OC's that are just slapped into a story with no real integration**

**And thanks to Sama-Bama for adding this to your faves list :D:D**

**3. I'm With You (Avril Lavigne)**

**I'm standing on the bridge**

**I'm waiting in the dark**

**I thought that you'd be here by now**

**There's nothing but the rain, no footsteps on the ground**

**I'm listening, but there's no sound**

**Isn't anyone trying to find me?**

**Won't somebody come take me home?**

**It's a damn cold night**

**Trying to figure out this life**

**Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new?**

**I don't know who you are but I,**

**I'm with you**

**I'm looking for a place, I'm searching for a face**

**Is anybody here I know?**

'**Cause nothing's going right, and everything's a mess**

**And no one likes to be alone**

**Why is everything so confusing?**

**Maybe I'm just out of my mind**

**It's a damn cold night**

**Trying to figure out this life**

**Won't you take me by the hand, take me somewhere new?**

**I don't know who you are but I,**

**I'm with you**

Shock had been in Magnolia – and an official member of Fairy Tail – for about a month, yet she didn't feel like she was fitting in at all. There were just too many people…so much noise…she didn't know how to handle all of it. After all those years being trained like a dog, she was decidedly distrustful of people in general. The only person she felt even moderately safe around was Levy.

It wasn't that she didn't like any of her fellow guild members – in fact she admired them to the point of worship. They were all so strong and confident…she wished she could have even a shred of their self-esteem or power. It would make her feel more at ease in this strange new city.

The problem for Shock was that she had major trust issues. She had been trained to avoid contact with people; to keep herself completely emotionally isolated from potential targets. Those years of harsh training were having bad ramifications on her new start. She just didn't know any of these new people well enough to feel comfortable around them, and because of the rigid walls she had erected around her heart, she wasn't allowing herself to relax enough to even try and get to know them.

Shock sighed and pulled at her hair irritably. It had finally started growing out a bit after being shorn close to her head at the camp. Now the choppy brown locks fell almost to her shoulders. She flopped backwards onto the bed in her small rented room in Fairy Tail's guild hostel. Levy had been good enough to find her a place to stay until she found her feet and managed to get a living space more to her tastes.

Shock closed her eyes and tried to will away the throbbing in her temples. She was trying her best to make a conscious effort to make new friends, but it wasn't as easy as she had hoped it would be. Every time she struck up a conversation with someone, inevitably some personal questions would pop up and her walls would flare violently to life, leaving her back at square one, no closer to understanding her new comrades than she had been before.

Shock opened her eyes and glanced around the room. It was Spartan, but just like she preferred – minimal furniture - seeing as she didn't have many worldly possessions besides her Charms and a few ragged assortments of clothes - a large window overlooking the front yard, with a magnificent view of Magnolia in the distance, the small bed and a nightstand with a jug of water and a few drinking glasses. There was a writing desk just next to the window. Shock could fancy herself just sitting there and gazing out the window for hours at a time. A nice view was something she hadn't had the privilege of in a long, long time.

There was a soft knock on the door, snapping Shock out of her reverie. Exhaling loudly, she dragged herself off the bed and wandered over to the door of her room, cracking it open slightly to see who it was that dared disturb her time of reflection.

But when she saw Levy bouncing from foot to foot outside in the hallway, Shock allowed a small smile to curve her mouth. She had almost forgotten that Levy was coming over to explain what she had mentioned about Gajeel a few weeks prior. Everyone's schedules had been so hectic that Shock and Levy had barely had any time to see each other. The two of them hadn't even had the time to catch up properly.

"You look so anti-social," the solid-script mage chuckled as she literally danced into the room. "You should try smiling once in a while."

Shock snorted and rolled her eyes at the energetic mage making herself at home on her bed. "I'm not anti-social," she pulled a tongue. "It's not my fault you're permanently grinning like that."

Levy just laughed and leaned back on her elbows, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed like a little girl. "I just happen to have a very positive outlook on life."

"I noticed," Shock muttered, smiling somewhat. She still found that letting her facial expressions show was a tad difficult – not for the first time, she cursed the conscription camp and willed it to burn in the fiery pits of hell.

Shrugging her shoulders, Shock allowed herself a rare moment of care-freeness and flung herself onto the bed, almost bouncing Levy off the other end. With their similarly small builds, there was more than enough space on the mattress for the both of them. Eventually, the two of them settled shoulder to shoulder, staring at the ceiling in companionable silence.

"I can't believe I've barely seen you this entire month!" Levy sighed loudly, shaking her head. "I can only imagine how difficult adjusting on your own must be! If I didn't have so many jobs to finish, I would definitely be helping you."

"That's okay, Mirajane's been helping me learn the ropes," Shock reassured her. "It's really not that bad, I understand you're busy with Jet and Droy a lot…"

"That's not the point," Levy interrupted, frowning. "I'm the only person you know in this city, I should be helping you."

Shock chuckled. "I am capable of making friends by myself, Levy," Shock snorted, squashing down the guilt she felt for lying. It was true that Mirajane had been helping her along for the past month, but she still felt alone in this new sea of people. She just couldn't find a way to connect with them.

But Levy - old Levy, who knew her way too well, even after all those years – saw right through Shock's façade. She cast her friend a dubious look, quirking an eyebrow. The blue-haired girl pushed herself into a sitting position and looked down at Shock, frowning slightly. She sighed.

"Shock…I can see you're not coping," she began hesitantly. "You don't talk to any of the other guild members, you go off by yourself a lot. I know I haven't been around a lot," Levy took her friend's hand and looked at her beseechingly, "but I want to help. Let me help."

Shock pursed her lips, mimicking Levy's position on the bed. "Okay, I admit it hasn't been that easy adjusting, but I promise I'm fine -"

"No, you're not," Levy cut her off again. "I can tell you're not." Her tone took on an edge of worry that made Shock uncomfortable. "What could have been so bad that you changed this drastically? You used to be so care-free, so outgoing…what happened to you, Shock?"

Shock hung her head, her shoulders stiff. She clenched her teeth in frustration. She so badly wanted to tell Levy everything that had happened to her in the camp, but she just couldn't bring herself to relive those painful memories all over again…she didn't want Levy to think any less of her.

After a brief internal struggle with her warped conscience, Shock relented to Levy's tight grip on her hand. She raised her eyes and sighed. "I'll make a deal with you," her voice was heavy, fatigued. "I tell you what happened to me, and you tell me about Gajeel."

…

Two very long and emotionally painful hours later, Shock walked out of her apartment, dragging on a thick overcoat to fend off the chilly night air as she strode outside. Levy was on her heels.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she kept asking, frowning.

Shock sighed. After telling Levy everything that had happened in the years they had been apart, she had to admit that the solid-script mage was taking the news better than she'd anticipated – meaning that she hadn't wanted to pack the Charm mage off to a psychologist or something.

"Levy, I'm fine," Shock assured her, smiling softly. She took her friend gently by the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. "I just need to be by myself for a little bit. I just need some time to think."

Levy's frown deepened. "I don't think you should -"

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself," Shock chuckled, feeling the familiar and comforting weight of her charm belt slung over her hips.

"You sure?" Levy's expression softened somewhat.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm just going for a walk, nothing dangerous. I need time to think. After everything you've told me…it's a lot to process."

After Levy had told her the story of Gajeel's previous allegiance to Phantom Lord and his relatively new position in Fairy Tail, and all the things he had done, Shock's mind was spinning. The man was so full of contradictions…it just didn't make any sense to her. She needed to clear her head and assess the situation logically. Logic…that was the one thing they had been drilled to follow at the camp.

_Never doubt your own logic._

Shock snorted at the memory. Following your logic was fine, but the camp made sure to twist your sense of the logical so it suited their purposes in the end.

"Don't be out too long, it's getting cold and you still have to be at the guild early tomorrow morning," Levy finally relented, sighing.

Shock ruffled her short blue hair affectionately, like she always used to when they were little kids. "Got it. See you in a bit, I won't be long."

And with no noise other than the jingling of her charms on her belt, Shock turned and stalked off into the fading light of dusk.

…

Shock wasn't even sure why she was so curious about Gajeel in the first place. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed just as isolated in a mass of people as she was, whether by his own convictions or not.

Or maybe it was because he naturally seemed so cold and distant, like she had been trained to be, and she was curious as to how a normal human being could stand to be that way willingly.

But to understand his motives, she had to understand Gajeel himself, which was why Shock had convinced Levy to tell her more about the ominous mage. But what Levy had told had not been what Shock had expected to hear. The things she knew now…they confused her and left her with more questions than answers.

Shock had wandered quite a way away from the hostel and was now traipsing through the town, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her overcoat. Her brow was furrowed as she thought about what Levy had told her.

So he had been a member of the Phantom Lord guild before joining Fairy Tail…that she understood. People were free to change guilds as they wished, right?

The part Shock didn't understand – and was quite disturbed by – was how Gajeel had attacked Levy and her team and literally left them for dead after destroying the guild house…and then joined the guild after all that.

The young Charm mage turned and corner and kept walking down an empty street, flitting in and out of the streetlights.

Shock frowned. She was angry at Gajeel for hurting Levy so badly – she could tell the solid script mage was still terrified of him after what he had done. But under that…she felt forgiveness seeping through – an emotion she wasn't too familiar with. After all, he had protected Levy against Laxus, even when everyone had turned against him.

And anyone who protected Levy – who protected any friend of hers in a time of need – was a saint in Shock's eyes. Which was why she was so confused. She just couldn't decide what to think of Gajeel…on the one hand, he was a self-serving egotist who willingly distanced himself from people he (according to Levy) deemed inferior…but on the other, he seemed to have a strong sense of honor and justice, and was willing to try repent for his mistakes.

Shock couldn't make sense of it. Was he one of the good guys, or one of the people to stay as far away from as possible?

She eventually stopped walking and found herself in the middle of a bridge overlooking the river that ran through Magnolia. Shock sighed, a plume of mist drifting up from her mouth as her hot breath mingled with the cold night air. The more she knew about Gajeel, the harder she found it to understand him.

Shock leaned against the railing of the bridge, gazing down at the dark waters that gurgled peacefully beneath her. She wished she could feel as calm as the water sometimes. She was so sick of the confusion, the worry…she just wanted some sort of inner peace.

She closed her eyes and focused on the calming sounds of the water, trying to tune out her own discorded feelings. In the still of the night, it didn't take Shock's keen ears long to pick out the sound of footsteps heading her way. And it seemed there was more than one pair of feet making the noise.

Reluctantly, the Charm mage opened her eyes and looked back down at the dark waters, not wanting to give any sign to the approaching party that she had head them. She hoped it was just a group of civilians returned home after work. Maybe if she ignored them, they would just keep on walking and leave her alone…

Curiosity overriding her better judgment, Shock snuck a peek at the group out of the corner of her eye. Her stomach dropped a little. There were about five men, all heavy set and ominous-looking. And they were heading straight for her. Shock doubted their intentions were noble.

Gritting her teeth and shifted her collar up to keep the cold off her neck, Shock pushed herself off the railing and casually made her way towards the other end of the bridge, careful not to show she had seen the men approaching her. She had nearly made it to the other end when the first of the men started cat-calling her.

"Hey darlin'! What's a pretty little thing like you doing out here all alone at this time of night?"

Shock stopped, her back still facing them men who were now sniggering at their companion's statement. There went her chances of getting away without some sort of altercation…

Not waiting for the men to catch up to her, Shock continued walking down the street.

"Don't you know it's dangerous for ya to be out here all alone? Could get hurt or something!" more sniggering followed. Shock scowled and upped her pace, eager to be away from the chauvinistic pigs.

"Hey! I'm talking to ya!" the loud voice sounded annoyed now that its target was completely ignoring it. "Don' ya know it' impolite to ignore people?"

Shock realized the man sounded drunk. Before she could increase her pace some more, two of them men from the group had managed to cut in front of her, and another two had snuck up on either side of her, blocking any escape route. Clenching her teeth angrily and rolling her eyes, Shock slowly turned on her heel to face the apparent 'leader' of the group.

He was a very tall man – he towered over her petite frame, build like a bear and reeking of whisky. Shock couldn't see much of his face in the dim light, but she could make out the edge of a beard and a frizzy mop of hair. A hand the size of an anvil grabbed hold of her chin and forcefully tilted Shock's head up.

"It's rude ta keep ignorin' people like that," the oaf slurred. Shock slapped his hand away and the man laughed – a deep, booming laughter that gave her an instant headache. "Looks like ya got some fire in ya! Why don't we -"

"Not interested," Shock curtly interjected, shoving her way past the brute and out of the cage his cronies had formed around her.

"I didn't say ya could leave!" the drunk roared.

Before Shock could react, he had seized a handful of her hair and yanked her backwards. She yelped in pain, hands flying up to her head. The drunkard then threw her rather unceremoniously into a dark alleyway leading off from the main road, between two low wooden buildings.

Shock hit the ground hard and slid a few feet before she finally stopped. Winded, she could only watch helplessly as two of the five men blocked the entrance of the alley, leaving her trapped with the drunkard and two of his followers.

"Now, where were we?" he chuckled ominously, sending chills racing down Shock's spine.

She scrambled to her feet, but a forceful kick to the knee sent her crashing down again. Gritting her teeth against the sharp pain that exploded in her kneecap, Shock glared hatefully at the brute, her hand moving down towards her charm belt. She would teach him to touch her like that…

Twisting her body like a snake, Shock managed to flip her body over and lashed out with her good leg, nailing the brute of a man in the upper thigh with her heel. He cried out as his leg buckled, sending his tumbling into one of his cronies. In the resulting confusion, Shock made a grab for the Air Charm, but her arm was suddenly pinned to the dirty ground by a large boot.

Snarling, she snapped her head up to glare at her assailant. The other one of the drunkard's still-standing accomplices smirked down at her, eyes glinting evilly as he applied more pressure to her trapped arm. Shock refused to scream as her arm was literally ground into the pavement, close to breaking from the sheer pressure of the brute's body weight on her fragile limb.

The thug raised his leg a fraction, preparing to smash it down on Shock's wrist. But before he could, something metallic hurtled through the mouth of the alley, smashing into the brute's head and sending him spinning into the opposite wall. Shock could only watch in astonishment as what looked like a retractable iron club snaked its way back out of the alley. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the two thugs who had been keeping watch – both were out cold on the ground, as well as the man who had first attacked her and his other lackey.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and assess the situation, Shock let her gaze roam the alley and what she could see of the street beyond. A shadowy figure stepped into her line of vision, silhouetted against the light flooding from the streetlamps behind it. Shock swallowed nervously, wondering if it was a sixth member of the gang looking to finish her off.

"You okay?" Shock was surprised at the question. All she could do was nod unsurely.

"What were you thinking, wandering around this part of town at night?" the shadowy figure scoffed, extending a hand down to help her up. When she didn't answer or make any move, it shook its head and continued. "Of course, you wouldn't know. You're new in this town, right?"

Shock nodded her head again, grasping the proffered hand firmly. He seemed to be an ally…

As Shock got to her feet, she winced – her arm was throbbing painfully and so was her head. She tried to stand properly, but as soon as she put weight on her leg – the one the drunkard had viciously kicked – it buckled. She cried out in pain, and her ally caught her before she could hit the ground. Judging by the voice and the muscular arm that was now encircling her waist, Shock could assume her savior was male.

"C'mon, we'd better get you back to the guild," he sighed, helping her limp out onto the street.

Shock frowned, but before she could ask how he knew she was part of a guild, they entered the light and she could see her ally's face clearly.

Metal studs adorning his eyebrows, chin, nose and ears…jet-black hair…a permanent scowl…Shock could only stare.

Noticing her gaze, Gajeel looked down at the limping girl. "What?"

Shock shook her head, mortified at having to rely on someone else to help her _walk_, of all things. "Nothing…"

An uneasy silence settled between them. Shock snuck a few more glances at Gajeel out of the corner of her eye. He acted so cold and distant on the outside…but here he was, helping a person he didn't even know back to a guild he swore he hated. Shock silently laughed at the irony of it.

Who knew? Maybe the Iron Dragonslayer Gajeel really did have a heart.

**Okay! Two more reviews and I'll post chapter 4! ^^**


	4. When It Rains

**Big thanks to Aikoyu Saotome for beta-ing :D **

**I'm breaking my rules by posting this chapter, but… meh.**

**For those of you wondering what Shock's charms look like, there's a picture on my deviantArt account :3**

**Just search Drumbeat-Of-My-Heart and look for the entry titled 'Souleater'**

**4. When It Rains (Paramore) **

**And when it rains,**

**On this side of town it touches, everything**

**Just say it again and mean it**

**We don't miss a thing**

**You made yourself a bed at the bottom of the blackest hole**

**And convinced yourself that it's not the reason you don't see the sun anymore**

**And no, oh, how could you do it?**

**Oh I, I never saw it coming**

**No, oh, I need the ending**

**So why can't you stay just long enough to explain?**

**And when it rains,**

**Will you always find an escape?**

**Just running away, from all of the ones who love you,**

**From everything**

**You made yourself a bed, at the bottom of the blackest hole**

**And you'll sleep 'til May**

**And you'll say that you don't want to see the sun anymore**

**Take your time.**

**Take my time.**

**Take these chances to turn it around**

**Take these chances, we'll make it somehow**

**And take these chances to turn it around**

**Just turn it around.**

"Ouch! That hurts, dammit!"

The room was dimly lit, with only a few candles scattered about the polished wooden counter. It was the dead of night, long past the time even the crickets had stopped chirping.

"Well if you stopped fidgeting so much, we could be done before you even know it!"

There were three people in said room – two females and a mal leaning against a doorframe. A pair of scissors glinted metallically in the candlelight as it rested beside a thick roll of bandages and gauze tape on the counter.

"What the hell are you trying to do? Mummify me?"

There was a loud, exasperated sigh from one of the women standing before the counter that the other sat on. The last loop of a clean bandage was pulled tight around a leg – perhaps a tad too tight.

"Ouch!"

"There, all done. Now quit whining like a baby."

"Easy for you to say," the person on the counter grumbled, flexing her leg experimentally. "That bloody well hurt. And I already told you I didn't need any damn bandages – I'm fine."

"Shock, you dislocated your knee! You're far from 'okay'!" Levy retorted, packing the medical supplies back into their box. "Trust you to get into a fight the second I'm not around."

Shock just snorted and said nothing as she hopped off the bar counter, landing lightly on her feet. She had known that when she and Gajeel had bumped into Levy on the way back to the guild there would be trouble. Levy had always mothered over Shock, and that hadn't diminished in the slightest over the years they had been separated. Shock wasn't sure if she should be touched that her friend cared so much, or offended that Levy might have thought she couldn't look after herself.

Levy turned to the figure leaning against the door post. He had been silent the entire time.

"Thanks again, Gajeel. Knowing Shock, she probably wouldn't have sorted that leg out before a month or two." The solid-script mage sighed, casting an annoyed look over her shoulder.

Shock met her gaze unflinchingly and shrugged. "I'm no weakling. I would have managed."

"Sure," Levy scoffed sarcastically, blowing out a candle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Gajeel smirk and shake his head.

Levy just couldn't understand Shock's fascination with the reclusive mage. Just thinking about what he had done before gave her the chills. The blue-haired girl sighed inwardly. Maybe if she hadn't told Shock the whole story, she wouldn't have gone wandering, and this whole debacle would never have happened… Levy shook her head. Shock would have persisted and she would have told her eventually in any case. Levy was just glad Gajeel had been there to help her friend out and bring her back to the guild. As much as she was frightened of him… Levy could see he was a good guy underneath.

Reaching for another candle, she looked at Gajeel over her shoulder and continued. "You think you could help her back to the guild? She needs to rest that leg and I still have a few things to tidy up here."

"I can walk by myself!" Shock protested, folding her arm crossly. "I don't need he-"

Levy shot her a look that immediately silenced the Charm mage's rant. Shock just settled into a fierce glower as she watched her friend methodically sort and pack that various medical items strewn across the counter.

"Just make sure she gets back without hurting herself even more," Levy's tone held exasperation as she directed the request at the silent man behind her.

Gajeel nodded and pushed himself off the doorframe, making his way towards Shock. She eyed him warily and tried to stand on her own, but her weak knee started giving in under the mass of bandages and splints Levy had wound around it. Once again, Gajeel caught her before she hit the ground.

Growling, Shock shot him a look and tried to stand on her own again. "I already told you, I can walk by myse-"

The metal Dragonslayer sighed and adjusted his grip on her midsection. "Stop bitching and listen to the lady, will ya?"

Levy laughed softly as Shock settled into a begrudging silence and allowed Gajeel to help her stand. "I'll see you back at the hostel, Shock. Try not to be too much of a hassle in the meantime," She said, blowing out another candle and lining it up with the others.

A small smile crept onto Shock's face in the dimming light. "Thanks again, Levy."

The solid-script mage just smiled as Gajeel helped Shock limp out of the guild house.

…

Shock was decidedly frustrated about having to rely on other people for any sort of assistance. Especially with something as mundane as _walking_.

The uncomfortable silence between her and Gajeel had continued to grow as he helped her hobble back to the guild hostel. On the one hand, Shock was glad for the silence as it made her lacking conversational skills less obvious, but on the other, she was rather uncomfortable just limping along next to him without saying anything. She had a million questions buzzing around in her head, but she was hesitant to find the answers.

Eventually, her curiosity got the better of her and she tilted her head to look up at Gajeel questioningly – with his much taller statue, she had to crane her neck quite a bit.

"I suppose I should thank you," she muttered, eyeing him suspiciously.

He looked down at her out of the corner of his eye. "For what?"

Shock returned her gaze to the cobble road they walked along. "For coming along when you did."

"You sure needed it," Gajeel commented, and Shock shot him a dark look. "Tiny thing like you couldn't hope to handle yourself against those guys, anyway."

"I can handle myself perfectly fine!" she spluttered, seething in indignation. "If that brute hadn't pinned my arm down – "

"Yeah sure," he cut in with a sarcastic snort. "And my name's Rapunzel or some shit like that."

Shock smirked. "Well, with hair like that…who knows? Maybe you have some hidden alias we don't know about…"

Gajeel frowned, sending an annoyed glare in her direction. Shock just met it with a smug grin, her own glare unflinching. She would teach this brute a thing or two about humility.

"Just keep in mind whose the one helping you out here," the dark-haired mage countered. "Without my help, you would have been raped and beaten to a bloody pulp not so long ago."

Shock rolled her eyes, trying to shift away from Gajeel in annoyance to his bluntness. But, with his arm firmly wrapped around her waist, she wasn't moving an inch. "Whatever you say, Mr. 'I-can-take-on-a-whole-village-and-live,'" she mimicked his voice childishly.

Keen to irk her even more, Gajeel replied, "I probably could, but I've never really had the opportunity…"

Shock let out a less-than-amused snort and shook her head at his tone of voice. She looked up and saw that they were nearing the dormitory – her bedroom lamp was still shining brightly on her desk near the window, throwing a patch of warm yellow light onto the front lawn. Shock was suddenly overcome with a bout of fatigue. It had been a long, painful day, and suddenly all she wanted to do was fall into bed and sleep for a week.

As the pair reached the front porch of the hostel, Shock turned to Gajeel and asked, "What were you doing in that part of town, anyway?"

He set her against the railing of the porch and pushed the front door open. "I live there. I was on my way back home from the guild when I heard hose idiots making a ruckus in that alley. Thought I might as well take a look and see what they were doing."

Shock was silent for a moment or two, looking down at the weathered floorboards beneath her boots. She leaned heavily on the white-painted railing, thinking about what would have happened if Gajeel hadn't stopped to investigate. He struck her as the kind of person who enjoyed watching other people suffer when it suited him.

"Thanks again," she muttered, pushing herself up and hobbling inside. "I really owe you one."

"Better not forget it," Gajeel sniggered.

Growling, Shock slammed the door closed behind her angrily. That man could make her blood boil in mere seconds…it seemed like all her emotional conditioning from the training camp went flying out the window when he was around.

Shock gritted her teeth and forced herself to move up the stairs to her room. She clenched her fists angrily when she could still hear him sniggering on the other side of the door.

Despite his assistance, he really did infuriate her.

…

It took about a week for Shock's injured leg to recover and for her to be able to walk around unaided. She was just happy for the fact that she was independent to some extent once more.

Her interaction with Gajeel after the incident had been limited, seeing as he preferred to keep to himself and didn't really spend a lot of time in the guild house, aside from when he was taking a break from missions. Shock had been working there for the past week, helping Mirajane with the bar and doing other odd jobs to earn some money for the rent until she was confident enough to take a job on her own.

With her leg injury and everything else that had been happening, Shock hadn't really had much time to train with her Charms. In the first two weeks she had used her training as an excuse to avoid uncomfortable conversations with guild members she was sceptical of, but now she found herself beginning to adjust to their presence.

Since she had been stuck mostly behind the bar counter for a week, Shock had sort of been forced to make conversation with the old guild members. At first she had hated the forced interaction, but much to her surprise, she steadily seemed to be getting used to the more social aspects of guild life.

She had started to get to know the regular bar-goers quite well – Kana had an intense love for her sake, but wasn't a very dignified drinker. Nav permanently hung around the job board behind the bar counter, but never actually seemed to take any jobs. Sometimes Shadow Gear even dropped by when they didn't have a job, and Shock got a chance to talk with Levy.

It was one of these times, when Levy was seated at the bar striking up friendly chatter with Shock and Mirajane, than Gajeel decided to make an appearance. Frowning, Shock noted the hostile glares that greeted him as he strolled past the various occupied tables on his way to the bar. But Gajeel's face just remained blank, with his trade-mark scowl seemingly warding away the dark looks and muttered insults.

Shock still couldn't understand the rest of the guild's animosity towards Gajeel. Heck, even Natsu seemed to harbour some grudge against him – and Natsu got along with _everyone_. But from the little time she had spent with the ex-Phantom Lord mage, Shock had seen straight through the aggressive mask he portrayed to everyone else. She wouldn't admit it to anyone – not even Levy – but she saw a bit of herself in his mannerisms.

As he approached the counter, Shock continued polishing the glass she held in her hand with a dish towel. Gajeel seated himself at an empty barstool, resting his elbows on the counter.

Shock glanced in his direction. "The usual?"

Even though Gajeel wasn't that much of a regular at the bar, the few times he did decide to come in for a drink, Shock had managed to memorise his peculiar tastes. Some odd mixture of rum, whisky and lime juice…

Gajeel just nodded. Shock noted that he looked a lot more tired than usual. She turned and gathered a few bottles off the shelf behind her, mixing them together in the glass she had been cleaning.

She slid the glass towards him, and Gajeel deftly caught it with one hand. Shock leaned against the counter, looking at him curiously. He always portrayed such a stoic attitude to everyone else – seeing him fatigued was slightly unnerving.

"Tough jobs lately?" she asked, striking up a conversation.

He gave her an exasperated look – Shock was always trying to get Gajeel to open up more – but answered nonetheless. "You could say that – had to deal with a gang of mages stirring up trouble up North."

Shock snickered. "That was tough for you? Usually you like causing fights with people."

Gajeel gave the Charm mage a dark look and she restrained a chuckle. She knew she could only push him too far until he lost his temper. Shock hung the dish towel she had been holding over the sink behind her. She paused to ponder her recent good mood – she had been far more open with more people than she ever would have expected before. She was actually starting to make friends with more people besides Levy. Shock turned back to Gajeel, watching him as he nursed his drink.

She still had to acknowledge the fact that she wasn't entirely comfortable yet with people in general, and preferred to keep to herself. But at the same time, she felt like she was healing. Slowly, but healing.

Shock took in Gajeel's moody expression. With her own healing, she felt the need to help others overcome their own hurdles. And she was keen to help Gajeel gain more of an acceptance into such an open and welcoming guild like Fairy Tail. After all, he wasn't a bad person – that had been proven when he helped both her and Levy out of tricky situations and asked nothing in return.

Shock had come to the conclusion that he must have still been feeling some fear over joining a new guild where so many people harboured past hatred for him, so he makes himself seem so outwardly strong and indifferent to protect himself from the others' anger and suspicion.

It just didn't add up to her why the rest of Fairy Tail hated Gajeel so much – even Levy had forgiven him for his past wrongs already.

But, if there was one thing Shock was confident in, it was her unwavering commitment to whatever she deemed a worthy cause. And as she noticed all the hostile glares directed at the metal Dragonslayer's back, she deemed Gajeel a very worthy cause.

…

It was almost closing time at the guild house (and by proxy, the bar), and Shock had just finished getting rid of – in a polite manner, of course – the last few stragglers who had yet to finish their drinking for the night.

The sun was just starting to sink below the bulky wooden buildings lining the Magnolia streets, painting the sky a swirl of colours, ranging from deep orange to dusky pink.

Shock was helping Mirajane pull down the multi-coloured awning they had set up outside the bar when she noticed someone approaching from the corner of her eye. She finished rolling up the length of material and stood, dusting her hands off on her baggy dungarees.

Turning around, Shock was a little surprised to see Gajeel heading towards them, hands shoved casually into his dark pants as he walked.

"What, no damsels in distress to save tonight?" she joked, stacking a few plastic chairs together and pushing them inside the guild hall.

Gajeel chuckled, leaning against the wall. "No, I think you were the only one stupid enough to put yourself in that situation in the first place."

Shock snorted and rolled her eyes. "You're not so perfect yourself, Mr. High-and-mighty. We all make mistakes."

"Yeah, I guess…" Gajeel mused thoughtfully. "You're just lucky I'm around to bail you out of those mistakes."

Shock clipped him over the back of the head with a pile of menus she had been gathering up. "Ass."

"I just call it like I see it," Gajeel chuckled again, rubbing the back of his head. Shock sure managed to pack a punch, even with her small stature, and even with menus.

"Sure," the Charm mage raised an eyebrow as she looked at him over her shoulder, her tone dripping with sarcasm. She dumped the pile of menus on the bar counter and waved goodbye to Mirajane, who turned the lights off and locked the front doors of the guild house. Seeing as most of the guild mages lived quite some distance away from the guild house, it was closed at around sundown because no one was able to stay around and keep it open for longer.

"Do you enjoy harassing me, or did you have something meaningful to say?" Shock gave him a bored look as they walked away from the guild house, heading towards the hostels.

"I was wondering if you'd be up to a mission, seeing as you look so bored behind that bar counter all day," Gajeel asked nonchalantly.

Shock gave him a curious look from the corner of her eye. Levy had told her once that mages rarely formed teams to take on missions unless they had a good tactical reason. Seeing her expression, Gajeel smirked and added, "Only if you can handle it, that is. I'm curious to see if you're an asset to the guild or not."

Shock huffed indignantly. She hated anyone questioning her ability as a mage. "Of course I could handle it. I'm no weakling, despite what you may think."

"Whatever you say, small fry," the dragonslayer taunted her a little more. He quite enjoyed inciting her temper a bit.

Shock, with her height complex brought painfully to the surface, spun on her heel and punched the taller mage in the arm, with enough force to send him careening off the road and into the side of a building.

Not even stopping, she continued to stomp down the road in a huff, leaving a slightly astounded Gajeel to stumble back to his feet and jog after her.

"Okay, no more short jokes," he sniggered, rubbing his arm tentatively. "That hurt!"

"Good!" Shock snapped, shooting him a venomous glare.

With the guild hostels steadily approaching, Gajeel shook his head. It was now or never.

"So you going to come with or not? It's a pretty high-paying job," he asked. "Would take care of a couple months' rent for that shit-hole."

Slowing her furious pace, Shock mulled over Gajeel's suggestion. "Like you should be talking about living in a shit-hole – you're the one that lives in the shadiest part of town."

Gajeel raised his hands in self-defence. "I stay where I can afford. If you don't want to help with the job…"

"I never said I wouldn't help," Shock interjected quickly, her expression cool.

"So you accept?"

Shock noticed Erza switching off the lights on the front porch. She had to hurry or she'd be locked outside for the night – not a good option. "On one condition," she said quickly, starting to jog towards the large building.

"And what would that be?" Gajeel called after her.

"We split the money thirty-seventy!" she called over her shoulder with a wide, mischievous grin, breaking into a sprint.

Gajeel watched Shock bound up the stairs of the front porch, managing to catch the front door before Erza locked it. He shook his head, with an amused smile on his face, and dug his hands deeper into his pockets.

"We'll see how that turns out," he muttered to himself, turning and walking back towards the city.

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	5. Trouble

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**5. Trouble (P!nk)**

**No attorneys to plead my case**

**No opiates to send me into outer space**

**And my fingers and bejeweled **

**With diamonds and gold, but that ain't gonna help me now**

**I'm trouble, yeah trouble now**

**I'm trouble ya'll, I disturb my town**

**I'm trouble, yeah trouble now**

**I'm trouble ya'll, I got trouble in my town**

**You think you're right, but you were wrong**

**You tried to take me, but I knew all along**

**You can take me for a ride, I'm not a fool out**

**So you better run and hide**

**If you see me coming down the street**

**Then you know it's time to go**

**(and you know it's time to go 'cause here comes trouble)**

Shock was so ready to prove to Gajeel that she was capable of handling herself on a job that she spent most of the night and early hours of the morning running drills with her different charms (with the exception of the Soul and Time charms). Not Soul, because the key was volatile enough that it took part of the owner's soul in compensation for being used, and not Time, because it had a habit of withering away an owner's life force the longer it was kept active.

She had eventually collapsed into bed at around 2 a.m., exhausted but extremely proud of herself.

She had finally found some purpose in her life now, and was ready to embrace the challenge head-on. This job presented the perfect opportunity to test her skills, and show her where she needed to improve. It was a chance to become stronger and prove Gajeel wrong at the same time. It was perfect.

Due to her over-exertion the previous night, Shock completely ignored her alarm clock and only realized she was late when Erza started banging on her door. As she tripped over virtually every available object and surface in her small room trying to find clean clothes to wear, Shock was struck by the oddity of her new positive outlook on life. She reflected on how much happier she had become in the months since joining Fairy Tail.

She grinned through the whole lecture Erza sat her down for on punctuality and other such behaviour, and even Grey and Natsu's constant bickering at the guild house couldn't annoy her.

Maybe, just maybe, she was on her way to a complete psychological recovery. And even if she wasn't, she liked the direction in which she was headed.

…

"Hargeon Town?" Shock raised an eyebrow at Gajeel as he sat at his usual stool across from her at the bar. "Never heard of it."

"I think I know that place," Lucy commented. Both Shock and Gajeel turned to look at the buxom blonde sitting a little further down.

"You do?" Shock was hopeful.

"Wait…she was listening in on us, wasn't she?" Gajeel mumbled under his breath, giving Lucy a strange look.

Shock hushed him with a wave of her hand – they needed the information.

Lucy took another long sip from the straw in her glass before beaming at Shock. "Yeah, I remember meeting Natsu there – he sort of destroyed the whole harbor," the stellar-spirit mage chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "I don't think that town'll take too kindly to seeing us back there any time soon."

"Do you have a map or anything we can use? Gajeel managed to get us a job there," Shock asked brightly. Gajeel gave her a dead-pan look, which she completely ignored. He just couldn't help but wonder where she got all her enthusiasm from – just looking at her made him tired.

"I think I might have a map or something in my bag, hang on a sec," Lucy turned to rummage through the satchel hanging by her hip.

While the blonde was distracted, Shock turned her head to look at Gajeel. She matched his bored expression with a blank one of her own.

"You could at least _try_ to be more enthusiastic," she reprimanded. "You were the one who suggested this in the first place."

Gajeel sighed, blowing in Shock's face. It amused him to piss her off – her temper flared so easily. He noted with satisfaction when her expression turned peeved and she glowered at him. "Your point being?" he replied lazily.

Shock balled her hands into fists to keep herself from smacking Gajeel across the face. No matter how much she wanted to wipe that smug expression off his face, she had to restrain herself. Whenever she was around him, he seemed to make her forget all her previous training. Shock couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.

But acting like he cared so little for a 'high-paying job', as he had put it the previous night, that really ticked her off. He was underestimating her skills as a mage greatly, and Shock wasn't going to stand for that. She hadn't spent all those months with that old mage in the mountains for nothing.

Her training – and thus lack of sleep – the previous night would not be wasted. They would finish this job, and finish it properly. A thought suddenly occurred to Shock – she hadn't asked Gajeel what the job even _was._

She was just about to ask her partner the details when Lucy tossed a rolled-up piece of paper in her direction. Shock caught it and unrolled it, glancing over the faded map curiously.

"It's kind of old, but it'll still get you where you need to go," Lucy assured with a smile, leaning her elbows on the counter.

Shock looked over the map again, her irritation at Gajeel vanishing, replaced with the thrill of her first job as a Fairy Tail mage. "Thanks Luce! This is a big help." Shock beamed at the blonde, her eyes glittering with excitement. Beside her, Gajeel snorted and rolled his eyes. Sometimes she acted like such a little kid.

"Anytime!" Lucy returned the smile, standing from her bar stool. "Good luck for the job, Shock. Tell me how it went when you get back."

"Sure thing," Shock already had her nose buried in the map.

Gajeel watched the blonde leave with an apprehensive look on his face. "Why's she so interested in our job?"

Shock glanced up from the map, clicking her tongue in annoyance. "She's just trying to help, no need to be so suspicious."

Gajeel huffed and rolled his eyes. "And since when did you become so trusting? I remember a time when you wouldn't even make eye contact with anyone besides Levy."

Shock smacked the weathered map down on the bar counter, shooting her dark-haired partner a glare. Her tone was calm, but laced with an underlying venom when she answered. "Unlike you, I'm willing to go out on a limb to move forward. I refuse to be stuck in the past with no family or friends. This is meant to be my new start – stop being such a wet blanket and brighten up a little."

Sporting an identical glare, Gajeel countered, "Wet blanket, huh? I'm the one who invited you on this job in the first place. I wouldn't be so high and mighty if I were you."

Shock snorted. "Like you're one to talk."

When she turned her attention back to the map, Gajeel resisted the urge to smack the annoying little insect. He wasn't used to people disregarding him. He had been the strongest mage in Phantom Lord, damnit! Who was she to be talking down to him?

He ripped the map out of Shock's hands, enjoying the surprised look that flitted over her face. The surprise was quickly replaced with annoyance.

"Will you stop being so childish and give me the map back?" she growled, holding a hand out expectantly.

Gajeel just smirked and held it out of arm's reach. "The only reason I invited you along to this little outing is to assess whether you're of any worth to this guild or not. Don't flatter yourself by thinking I need you – I could quite easily finish this job on my own."

Shock narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth. No one – and she meant _no one_ – had the right to question her ability as a mage. She had trained far too hard for that. Gajeel was gravely underestimating her, and she wouldn't stand for it.

"Whether I'm any worth or not?" she hissed angrily, leaning over the counter. "Let me just tell you something – you don't have a clue of what I'm capable of, so it'd be wise for you to shut your don't _ever_ question my worth to this guild again. I'm sick of you doing it and I won't stand it any longer**. **I'm not the one who was so keen on destroying it in the first place."

Gajeel's metallic eyebrow twitched, and Shock knew she'd hit a nerve. She smirked and continued. "Don't think I don't know about that whole incident. If anyone should be questioning loyalty and worth around here, it should be me."

His expression stony, Gajeel challenged, "Fine. You've made your point, runt. So let's put it this way – I get to see what you're made of on this job, and you get to assess whether I'm loyal to this guild or not."

"Fine by me," Shock sneered, snatching the map back from Gajeel's hand. "But we're still splitting the money seventy-thirty."

…

"You know, I just realized something," Shock commented as she disembarked off the back of a wagon, who's owner had been kind enough to offer them a lift.

When her partner quirked an eyebrow, she continued. "We've travelled all this way…" they began trudging down the shale-covered down into Hargeon Town, "…and yet you still haven't told me what exactly this job is."

A small smile tugged at the corner of Gajeel's mouth. "No, suppose it slipped my mind," he retorted casually.

Shock sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Travelling with him for the past two days had been…infuriating, at the least. And he wasn't going to make her life any easier now that they had reached their destination.

"Will you just _tell_ me?" she groaned. She could feel the start of a headache coming on.

Deciding had tormented her enough during the last few hours, Gajeel relented. "A merchant group contacted us to protect their shipping route in and out of the port."

After a prolonged silence, Shock realized no further explanation would be forthcoming. "Is that all? This whole job for two people?"

"If you don't think you can handle it…" Gajeel began tauntingly.

"I'll manage just fine, thank you very much!" Shock interjected heatedly, folding her arms angrily and marching off towards the town.

A few meters down the line, she slowed. With a knowing expression on her face, Shock turned back to the metal dragonslayer who ambled down the hill after her.

"There's something you're not telling me. What's the full mission?" Shock had been trained to look for signs that people were trying to deceive her – the small smirk on Gajeel's face, the slight tension in his shoulders…his subtle body language gave it away.

He shrugged, not too fussed with being caught out. "Nothing much – we just have to get rid of the giant sea serpent preventing ships from sailing in and out of port."

"Oh. Just that?" Shock tried to shrug nonchalantly, but inside she was screaming. Not in fear – she had faced much worse enemies on various battlefields she had been assigned to in the past – she was just supremely annoyed that her supposed 'partner' would keep such an important detail from her. Sea serpents weren't the easiest things to deal with.

Though he didn't show it, Gajeel was impressed – Shock had barely flinched when he told her what they were up against. He assumed most other mages from their guild would have paled at the mere thought of dealing with a sea serpent (besides maybe Natsu – that idiot took on anything). After all, they were pretty tricky to get rid of, seeing as they stayed under the water most of the time. And he wasn't the world's greatest swimmer.

Gajeel watched Shock out of the corner of his eye as they continued towards the port. He shrugged internally – maybe he was underestimating her just a little. Microscopically. Not that he would ever admit it, anyway.

His gaze was drawn down to her heavy utility belt, slung low over her hips. Her jeweled charms glinted menacingly in the sunlight, and he noticed that she had her hand clasped firmly around one of them.

Shock ran her thumb over the top of the Water charm, the aquamarine stones smooth and cool to the touch. She didn't have a doubt in her mind that this was definitely the key she would be using to get the job done. Shock frowned slightly as they entered the outskirts of the bustling town. She realized she had been neglecting her Charms lately…it was definitely time for some more training as soon as she got back.

"I hope you know where we're going," she grumbled, not enjoying the massive crowds of people she had to push through. They made her claustrophobic all of a sudden.

Gajeel just ignored her, shoving milling villagers out of his way and completely ignoring the glares that followed. Shock tried her best to stay in his wake, expertly weaving through the gaps he created. She smiled to herself – there were _some_ benefits to their partnership.

In a few minutes, the pair had reached an expensive-looking building a few hundred feet away from the docking yard, where an assortment of ships was currently docked. Some looked like they hadn't left port in _years_.

Gajeel was just about to knock on the front door when a loud rumbling shook the very earth under their feet. Shock's keen hearing could pick up the sounds of people screaming in the market place where they had first entered the town.

Slowly, the pair turned around to face the harbor. Shock noticed the distant sea beginning to churn and froth wildly, and a sense of foreboding settled in the pit of her stomach.

"Is that what I think it is?" she muttered, expression deadpan. Trust their luck to get thrown right in the middle of the job with no warning.

Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar rent through the air as an enormous sea monster burst from the churning waves. The serpent rose nearly a hundred feet in the air, its body covered in shimmering green scales slick with sea water. Both sliding their hands into their respective pockets, Gajeel and Shock calmly regarded the creature's head.

The size of a train carriage, it was fanned by an odd sort of frill, making the serpent look almost like a vicious, over-sized sunflower. It hissed menacingly at the two mages, revealing a mouth full of gigantic, razor-sharp teeth.

"I take it this is our job," Gajeel commented, cocking his head to the side as he studied the serpent. He then turned his gaze towards his partner and smirked. "Think you can handle it, small fry?"

Shock scowled at him, balling her fists angrily. "Don't call me that. I could probably take this thing down myself."

"Yeah, sure." The dragonslayer rolled his eyes sarcastically, pulling his hands out his pockets and flexing his shoulders experimentally. "Look at the size difference – that thing would swallow you alive."

If Shock was angry before… she was positively _fuming_ now.

"Insult my ability as a mage?" Shock hissed, grabbing hold of her Water charm, "fair enough – you haven't seen me in action before. But insult my height?" She brought the jeweled tiger's head to her lips, drawing on the magic stored within.

As the power seeped from the charm and into Shock's lithe body, she was surrounded by a swirling vortex of water. It may have been only for the slightest of moments, but the transformation was instantaneous – her usually choppy brown hair faded to a deep shade of blue. Her baggy cargo pants and tank top melted into a long, flowing gown, almost the same brilliant hue of her hair. As the water receded from her body, small webbed spines sprouted from the backs of her arms, from her elbow to her tiny wrists.

"That's pushing it a bit," Shock's voice was calm, but had a deadly edge to it.

Gajeel could only stare at his partner. Her transformation had been so radical and so sudden he was still having trouble realizing that this exotic creature was the same Shock he had been insulting mere moments before. The power radiating off her in waves was so strong it was almost tangible.

He kept his expression carefully disinterested, though. He didn't want to inflate her ego or anything. "Your point being?"

Gajeel sighed in a bored sort of way. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the sea serpent taking an interest in Shock's sudden transformation. He didn't say anything though – the result was sure to be entertaining.

Shock's expression darkened. She seemed oblivious to the gigantic serpent making a lightning-fast lunge for her, mouth open wide. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that dynamite comes in small packages?" she growled angrily.

Just as the serpent reached its intended target, Shock spun around so fast Gajeel couldn't even see her move. Her arm snapped out and her tiny fist struck the serpent with such force that it was flung back into the ocean, letting out a surprised yowl as it went. There was a monstrous splash as it smashed back into the water. The resultant miniature-tsunami threw some of the smaller boats up onto the quayside, rocking the larger boats to and fro rather dangerously.

Gajeel was impressed by her speed. And who knew such explosive power could come from such a small body? Not that he would ever admit it. That would be going against his principles as a cold and distant asshole of note.

Shock's frustration and anger mounted when she saw the bored look on Gajeel's face. She was so sick and tired of him underestimating her abilities that she was about to punch a wall. She had managed to repel the entire serpent all by herself, and yet he still refused to acknowledge her ability. And to top it all off, he had called her short. Shock had _always_ had a chip on her shoulder about her 'height issue'. And this pompous ass just had to go and poke the tiger.

"Not bad," Gajeel shrugged. Shock's expression settled into a stony glare. "But you didn't knock it out."

Following his line of sight, Shock looked out to sea again. Sure enough, the serpent was slowly rising back out of the water. Sure, it looked a little woozy from the blow it had just received, but it was still conscious. It shook its head roughly, and Shock noted that now, it just looked pissed.

Sighing, she retorted, "Then why don't _you_ take care of it, if you're so much better than me?"

Gajeel smirked, making Shock's stomach churn angrily. "Watch and learn, shrimp."

The sea serpent lunged again, and Gajeel pulled his fist back to deliver a blow with his extendable iron fist. Seeing the obvious attack and remembering its past failure, the monster narrowed its eyes and easily dodged Gajeel's attack, swerving around the metal club and aiming straight for the mage himself.

Growling, the black-haired man had to swiftly dodge the serpent's gaping maw as it bit into the wooden deck he had been standing on. The wood bucked and splintered under the force of the monster's bite, forcing Shock to leap to a safer distance to avoid being impaled by stray splinters.

"Nice going!" Shock scoffed loudly, folding her arms and rolling her eyes at her irate team mate. "But I think you missed, tough guy!"

"You shut up!" Gajeel yelled angrily, brandishing a fist.

"Is that supposed to intimidate me?" Shock just raised an eyebrow, kicking the serpent in the eye when it decided to try and take a bite out of her again. It howled in pain, but she just ignored it. Her argument with Gajeel was far more important – she wasn't going to lose this battle of egos.

"You'd better watch yourself squirt, or you'll get hurt," Gajeel snarled while glaring at her, stomping his heavy boot down part of the serpent's head frill as if to demonstrate his point.

Shock snorted, hopping on top of the roof of the merchant building to avoid being crushed by the monster's heavy body as it thrashed away from Gajeel. What seemed to anger the creature more was that its prey wasn't even taking any notice of it. "I didn't peg you as the type of man to threaten girls," she snapped, sweeping her hand out in front of her. A massive wall of water shot up in front of the building, blocking the serpent's next attack. Her eyes never left Gajeel, who stood on the roof of a storage shed below the building she was perched on.

"For you, I'll make an exception!" Gajeel's patience was reaching its limit. This little stick of dynamite was getting too big for her boots. Who was she to speak to him like that?

"Bring it on, Dragonboy!" Shock shouted angrily, gesturing with her arms wide open. Her azure hair whipped around in the wind shooting off the wall of water she was controlling.

"You're going to regret that!" Gajeel cracked his knuckled menacingly, glaring it his partner. He didn't usually hit girls…but he'd make an exception this time.

Meanwhile, the sea serpent was getting really, really, REALLY pissed off. Never before had it been so blatantly ignored by two far inferior beings. It would crush them, that was for sure.

Ramming its head through the wall of water, the serpent slammed its jaw down on the merchant building. The wooden structure splintered and crumbled with the force of the impact. Shock, glaring fiercely at Gajeel, nimbly jumped off the collapsing building and landed on the serpent's scaly head.

The monster roared in indignation, pulling back towards the water and hopefully trying to fling the annoying little human to her death.

As the serpent shot back towards the water, Shock leaped clear off its head and turned gracefully in the air, landing lightly on the warped quayside as the merchant building crashed to the ground. Dust and other such debris billowed out from under the tons of wood and metal hitting the ground in one gigantic heap.

She didn't even have time to take a breath before Gajeel launched another one of his fist-turned-iron-clubs at her head. She ducked, letting it shoot harmlessly past her. Before he could pull his arm back, shock grabbed onto it with one hand, letting a jet of water burst from her fingertips and race along the length of the dragonslayer's arm.

Even when she let go, the water continued its path along the metallic surface of Gajeel's arm. He tried shaking it off, but the water wouldn't budge. With lightning speed, it struck his torso, knocking the breath from his lungs.

The water dissipated quickly, and Gajeel was back on his feet. Seeing Shock's cocky smirk, his temper flared again. To be knocked down by a _girl_, of all things…the indecency of it all.

With an enraged roar, Gajeel charged his team mate, pulling back his fist for another blow. Shock let out a war cry of her own, sprinting forward with her smaller arm pulled back for the attack. Just at that moment, the serpent decided to attack one last time.

It coiled like a spring, sinking low in the water before shooting out again. Faster than a bullet, it sped towards the quarrelling humans, hissing jaws open wide.

The three separate entities reached each other at the same moment. But, much to the serpent's surprise, both Gajeel and Shock pivoted at the last moment – away from each other and towards the monster's gaping maw.

Two fists – one hard as iron, and the other spiked with rapidly churning water around it – connected solidly on either side of the monster's head. With a high-pitched squeal of defeat, the serpent was sent flying back into the sea from which it had sprung. The momentum from the combined punches sent it flying a good few kilometers before it eventually crashed back into the ocean and sank.

Once the troublesome monster was out of sight, Shock turned to her partner and clicked her tongue in irritation. "That thing was so _annoying!_"

Gajeel just snorted, rolling his left shoulder and twisting his wrist experimentally. He looked over his shoulder at the decimated merchant building. "Now the question is – where do we collect the job money from?"

"I don't know, but we had better find them soon," Shock sighed, releasing the Water magic back into its charm. Her hair faded back to brown, and her clothes re-materialized. "I'm tired and I want to go home."

The pair turned and started walking back towards the town, hands causally stuffed in their respective pockets, argument seemingly forgotten. Shock looked at Gajeel out of the corner of her eye. She was still peeved at him for his earlier assumptions, but she thought they had proved themselves to be quite an effective team.

Gajeel thought about the fight they had just finished – he had to admit, he had been wrong about Shock. She was much stronger than he had given her credit for. It seemed like she was an asset to Fairy Tail, after all.

"We're still splitting the money eighty-twenty," she said casually.

"What?" Gajeel spluttered. "I thought it was seventy-thirty!"

"You called me short."

"You have _got _to be kidding me."

"I don't kid, buddy."

Gajeel slapped his forehead in frustration, shaking his head. Shock just chuckled. No one insulted her height and got away with it.

**I think this is one of the longer chapters I've written…**

**._. I forget how hard they can be sometimes.**

**Reviews for next chapter :D**


	6. All The Things She Said

**Thanks so much for the faves and reviews guys, it really means a lot to me ^^**

**xXxDarkShadowWolfxXx - Thank you! Music is a very important element for this story (or so I like to think)**

**NOTE: I just got a new laptop, and the internet browser is acting a little bit funny :/ it won't let me update for some reason...**

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**Where there's a will, there's a way! :D**

**6. All The Things She Said (t.A.T.u)**

**I'm in serious shit, I feel totally lost**

**If I'm asking for help it's only because**

**Being with you has opened my eyes**

**Could I ever believe such a perfect surprise?**

**I keep asking myself, wondering how**

**I keep closing my eyes but I can't block you out**

**Wanna fly to a place where it's just you and me**

**Nobody else so we can be free**

**Nobody else so we can be free**

**All the things she said**

**All the things she said**

**Running through my head**

**Running through my head**

**Running through my head**

**(Running through my head)**

**All the things she said**

**All the things she said**

**Running through my head**

**Running through my head**

**All the things she said**

**All the things she said**

**(All the things she said)**

**This is not enough**

**This is not enough**

**All the things she said**

**All the things she said**

**And I'm all mixed up, feeling cornered and rushed**

**They say it's my fault but I want her so much**

**Wanna fly her away where the sun and rain**

**Come in over my face, wash away all the shame**

**When they stop and stare - don't worry me**

**'Cause I'm feeling for her what she's feeling for me**

**I can try to pretend, I can try to forget**

**But it's driving me mad, going out of my head**

**Mother looking at me**

**Tell me what do you see?**

**Yes, I've lost my mind**

**Daddy looking at me**

**Will I ever be free?**

**Have I crossed the line?**

"_You know, you really shouldn't be doing that," a young girl, maybe no more than seven or eight, stood underneath a tree I was perched in, looking up at me. Her expression was scolding, and her stubby little arms were folded over her tiny waist._

_I looked down at my younger sister and pulled a tongue at her, hitching my skirts up and wiggling further up the tree trunk. "I may not be allowed to, but doesn't mean I won't."_

_I just couldn't stay in that gloomy house any longer. I needed to be outside, in the fresh air and sunshine. This tree was my favourite place just to be alone with my thoughts – even though the maids (and my annoying little sister) insisted it wasn't 'proper' for young ladies like me to be climbing trees when they should be sewing, or something stupid like that._

"_I'm gonna tell Miss Devonshire!" Missy (or Fizz, as I liked to call her) whined, shading her eyes as she watched me climb higher and higher into the tall oak tree in our backyard. _

"_Go ahead and tell her!" I shouted back down at her, settling on one of the highest braches. "Like she'll even be able to get me down."_

_My kid sister pulled a face at me and ran off, back towards our house. I watched her go, my face impassive. She dashed inside through the kitchen door, slamming it shut in her wake. Our house wasn't large – not even anything close. It was a small single-story building with two bedrooms – one for Mom and the other for me and Fizz. There was a kitchen, one bathroom and a sitting room. The garden was tiny, too. The oak tree I loved climbing so much threw almost the entire property into shadow. But it was all we could afford. Especially since Mom was sick now. _

_Ever since Dad died in the war, before Fizz was even born, we'd been tight with money. I don't remember much of him, because I was really young when he died, but Mom loved telling us stories about him and what a great war-hero he was. _

_She always used to get this faraway look in her eyes when she talked about him, like she could almost imagine he was still here with us. It made me sad when I saw the look in her eyes. Sad because she could never see him again, and sad because Fizz and I never got to know him. I sometimes wondered what our lives would have been like if he hadn't died. _

_I could hear Fizz's shrill voice coming from the sitting room window below me. I turned and started climbing higher up the tree. She and I had never been on good terms. I saw her as an annoying little shadow that would never leave me alone and was only nice to me when she wanted something. It got even worse after Mom got sick. With no one to scold us and tell us to play nice, our relationship had just deteriorated._

_Even though I was only eleven, I knew Fizz and I wouldn't be on speaking terms for much longer. _

_I soon reached the top of the tree and sat heavily on a sturdy branch, swinging my short legs to and fro beneath me. From my perch, I could see over the whole town. It was a small town, granted, but it was my home nonetheless. If I squinted hard enough, I could just make out the flagpoles jutting out from the stocky buildings in the military compound near the outskirts of town._

_It was the same compound Dad had been stationed at before he died. I remember going with Mom and Fizz every year to visit his memorial on the compound grounds. I really hated it there – everything was so serious and strict. You couldn't even take your shoes off in the cemetery, even if they were really hurting you._

_I frowned. I wasn't sure if Mom would be able to take us to visit the memorial any more. Her health was rapidly declining, and had been ever since she first got sick a couple of months ago. Even though I didn't like the military compound, I liked talking to Dad's tombstone. It made me feel like he was still here somehow, and would listen to my problems even though he couldn't answer me._

_Suddenly, I heard the kitchen door banging open. My stomach sank when Fizz's annoyingly high-pitched voice floated up to me from underneath the oak tree._

"_I told her to get down, but she wouldn't listen to me!" the little brat whined._

_Rolling my eyes, I peered down from the branch I sat on. Fizz stood far below me, casting me a smug look. It took all my willpower not to throw one of my shoes down at her. Next to her was our nanny, Ms. Devonshire. She was quite a staunch woman, with broad shoulders and a build like a football player. Her black hair was pulled back severely into a tight bun, and her disapproving ice-blue gaze cut into me from some twenty feet down._

"_Shock! What has your mother told you about climbing this tree?" she scolded, meaty hands on her hips and a disapproving frown on her thin lips. "It's not proper for a young lady to be climbing trees all day!"_

_I scowled and stood on the branch, resting a hand on the trunk of the tree for balance. I was so sick of people telling me what to do, to be a 'proper' lady and all that rubbish._

"_Well maybe I don't want to be a 'lady'," I shouted back down at her. Ms. Devonshire looked shocked – I had never spoken back to her before. But at this stage, I was just fed up. With Mom being sick, and everyone wanting me to be something I wasn't…it was enough. I couldn't take it anymore._

"_I _like_ climbing trees! I don't want to spend all my time stuck in some stuffy room sewing the whole day!" I was blinking back tears as my shouting increased in volume. "I don't _want_ to be married off to some old geezer when I grow up! I don't want to walk with books on my head, or learn how to cook or make tea! I don't want any of it!"_

_I was getting so angry that I was shaking. I wasn't angry with Ms. Devonshire, not by a long shot. I was angry with the world. With _life_. With everything for making life so hard, for making me have to grow up sooner than I was supposed to. I didn't want to grow up without my mother. I didn't want to be head of a broken household. I wanted everything to go back to normal, when Mom wasn't sick and Fizz was still tolerable. I wanted to be a normal kid again._

"_I can't take this anymore!" I screamed, tears flowing freely from my eyes. I clenched them shut and shook my head vigorously. "Life sucks!"_

_All my screaming startled a bird that had been nesting in the tree, and it flew out of the foliage in a panic, flapping its wings and cawing loudly. I jumped with fright, letting out a small scream when my one foot slipped off the branch. Before I could regain my balance, I lost hold of the tree trunk and toppled off the branch. My eyes snapped open and I screamed again, hurtling through empty air._

_I heard Fizz shouting something, but I couldn't be sure of what she was actually saying past the wind screaming in my ears. I smacked a few smaller branches on my way down, my body bruising instantly. The ground came rushing up to meet me, and then – _

Shock screamed, thrashing wildly in her sleep. The force of her fit sent her crashing off her bed and onto the hard wooden floor, instantly rousing her from the nightmare. She snapped into a sitting position, wild-eyed and breathing heavily. It took a while for her to calm down and recognize her surroundings before she could slow her erratic heartbeat.

Taking a deep breath and running a hand down her flushed face, Shock sighed deeply. Every night, a different nightmare. A different reminder of her less-than-pleasant childhood. And if she wasn't having bad dreams about her mother or Fizz, it was about that dreaded conscription camp. Shock sighed again, rubbing her aching back and bruised hip. She just couldn't win.

Slowly clambering to her feet, Shock collapsed back onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow. All she wanted to do was go back to sleep. Because of the nightmares, she was turning into an insomniac. But, just as she was about to close her eyes again, her alarm clock starting honking noisily from her bedside table.

Growling, Shock smacked her clenched fist down on the snooze button, silencing the infernal device. Groaning, she pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly. She had a feeling the day was going to be a terrible one.

…

Shock yawned for what must have been the six-hundredth time since arriving at the guild house that morning. She slapped a hand over her mouth a screwed her eyes shut, willing the fatigue to just disappear.

"Doesn't look like you got much sleep at all," Levy commented, peering at her friend over the top of the book she was currently reading. Shock glanced at the cover – it was something about ancient runes.

The Charm mage just sighed nasally and dropped her head onto the table they were seated at. She didn't even feel it when her forehead smacked into the polished wood. "Bloody nightmares just won't go away."

Levy snapped her book closed and laid it on the table. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and looking down at Shock's head. "What are they about? They could just be from that camp…" she trailed off, not wanting to unearth any bad memories Shock may be suppressing.

But the other girl just shook her head and pressed her cheek firmly against the cool wood to calm her raging headache. Her feeling of foreboding with just getting stronger and stronger.

"It wasn't about that this time," she mumbled.

"Well, what was it?" Levy prompted, her curiosity piqued.

"Something about my sister… before my mother died," Shock stifled another large yawn, wishing fervently that she could go back to her apartment and sleep for a week.

"You know… I read somewhere that nightmares can be associated with past regrets and traumatic family experiences," the blue-haired girl said thoughtfully.

Shock cracked an eye open and looked up at her friend with a skeptical expression. "I know that look, Levy. What are you planning?"

A mischievous smirk appeared in Levy's face. "How long's it been since you last saw your sister? It must be years!"

Groaning, Shock slapped a hand over her face. "Levy, I'm not going looking for Fizz. Even if I did manage to find her after all these years, I don't think she'd even want anything to do with me."

"What makes you say that?" Levy picked her book up again, flipping the pages distractedly. Shock could literally see a plan forming in her mind.

"Let's just saw we didn't leave on the best of terms," she sighed, closing her eyes and wishing for a dream-less sleep more than ever.

Before Levy could think of a smart reply, there was a loud thud as someone else sat themselves down at the table. Shock's rest was interrupted by someone jabbing their finger repeatedly into her head. Growling, she lifted her head from the table, glaring daggers at the fool who had dared disturb her none-too-common shut-eye.

"Do you _have_ to do that? I get little enough sleep as it is," Shock frowned at Gajeel as he sat opposite her, wearing a disinterested expression on his face.

"Can't let you sleep when we have a job to do," he replied, folding his arms over his broad chest.

"Job? What job?" Shock quirked an eyebrow, propping her chin up on her palm as she rested her elbow on the table. In the four months she had been working with Gajeel, she had come to expect him bringing in odd jobs at the most unexpected times.

"Picked it up this morning off the notice board," he slid a piece of scrunched-up paper towards her. "We need the money, and it seems like a pretty simple job."

Shock rotated the page so she could read it clearly. As she scanned it intently, Gajeel continued.

"It's a little far away, but nothing impossible. All we have to do it get rid of a few stray mages causing trouble in the region, and then we're home free."

But Shock wasn't listening. Her eyes were glued to the small picture of the town they were to be travelling to. The name of the town was printed in small black letters at the top of the page.

_Lilia Valley._

When she read it, her stomach felt as though it had dropped down into her combat boots. Her blood seemed to turn to ice in her veins.

Levy noticed her reaction straight away. With a worried frown, she placed a hand over Shock's forearm. The Charm mage didn't even seem to notice.

"Shock? What is it?" she asked in a hushed tone, leaning forward.

Shock could only gape silently and shake her head. After all this time…she didn't think she was ready for this. After all this time, could she face the past she had left behind? The memories she had been forced to abandon?

It took Gajeel a moment to realize that his partner wasn't paying attention to him. Scowling, he clicked his fingers in front of her face to bring her out of whatever trance she had mysteriously slipped into. If there was one thing that irked him, it was when people ignored him.

Her eyes snapped from the page clenched in her hands to his face. He gave her an annoyed look. "Problem?"

By now, Levy had also had a chance to glance at the job sheet. When Shock remained silent and her eyes moved back down to the photograph, the blue-haired girl answered in her stead.

"That's her old hometown."

…

Shock had stayed silent for most of the train ride from Magnolia to Lilia Valley. After working with the Charm mage for the past four months, Gajeel liked to think that he knew her fairly well. She generally didn't speak much, but when she was excited about something – like she was about most jobs – he just couldn't shut her up. But her silence now was eerie… so unlike her that it was chilling.

He watched her from the opposite seat in the rain car they rode in. She was stiff as a board, face blank and expressionless. Her eyes hadn't moved from the window for the past two hours they had been travelling. Gajeel was pretty sure she didn't even register the scenery flashing past outside.

When he saw her like this, so desolate and unreachable, he realized there was a whole other facet to Shock that he had yet to see or figure out. He would never admit it, but it unnerved him. He sort of liked her company on missions – her normally fiery personality made their friendly verbal jousting so much more interesting. And travelling with Shock made him feel like he wasn't so… isolated anymore.

Gajeel looked down at the job sheet in his hands for what must have been the sixtieth time that day. He just couldn't help but wonder what sort of history Shock had with Lilia that would make her react the way she had.

…

"_Are you sure you're okay with going?" Levy's tone was worried as she followed Shock out of the guild house._

_The younger mage still had the job sheet clutched firmly in her hands. Her expression was a mixture between determined and apprehensive. "I'll be fine, Levy. I need to do this."_

_Gajeel trailed behind the two of them, hands shoved in his pockets. He thought Shock's reaction to the whole situation was rather strange… what was so special about that town? The job wasn't anything special, so it couldn't have anything to do with that. Not for the first time, he realized that he didn't know much about his partner's past at all._

_Levy pulled Shock to a halt in the middle of the cobbled street. A few wagon drivers shouted at them to move, but she ignored them. "Shock, just because I was talking about Fizz earlier, doesn't mean you have to go to Lilia now. If you're not ready, I think it would be best if-"_

"_I'll be fine," Shock repeated forcefully, looking her friend straight in the eyes. "I think it's about time I go back. If not for Fizz… then for myself."_

_..._

Shock could feel another wave of cold anxiety flood through her system, but she quelled it. As much as she was frightened of going back to her home town – frightened of all the memories it would bring back – she couldn't afford to back down now. There was something she needed to do there… and it was long overdue.

For the first time during the two-hour journey, Shock let herself relax and recline against the plush red train seat. She ran a hand over her face and sighed. She wasn't all that sure if she was ready to go back yet, but she felt she needed to. Maybe then the nightmares would stop, and she could make peace with herself.

But somehow, she doubted it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shock noticed Gajeel staring at her. Turning towards him, she cocked an eyebrow at him thoughtful expression. "What?"

He regarded her silently for a few moments before answering. "I was just wondering why you were so determined to come on this job, even though it seemed like you wanted nothing to do with it," his eyes glanced down to the job sheet before returning to his partner's face. "There's something you're not telling me."

Shock looked at him, assessing whether his tone was genuine or not. It seemed odd for Gajeel to seem so interested all of a sudden. After deeming his question legitimate, Shock snorted and curled up in the corner between the seat and the wall next to the window. She rested her head against the cool glass and closed her eyes for a moment.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Gajeel," she responded after a short pause. "So much…" she added softly, opening her eyes again and staring at the scenery flashing past outside. Even after so long, she recognized the familiar scenery indicating that they were nearing Lilia Valley.

This time, it was Gajeel's turn to sigh. He folded the job sheet and tossed it onto the seat next to him, resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. He clasped his hands under his chin and gave Shock another thoughtful look.

"At least give me something to work with."

Shock's gaze flicked from the window to her partner's face. She studied his expression – if she was expecting to see any mockery or false intentions, there was none. Just open honesty. Shock wasn't used to that coming from Gajeel. He was the kind of person who was just as quick to beat you up than help you.

She pondered his change for a moment or two – maybe she was finally making an impact on him? Getting him to accept the fact that he didn't have to isolate himself all the time?

Finally, she answered.

"I didn't exactly leave Lilia on good terms. That's why I'm a little hesitant to go back after so long." Her tone was regretful, Gajeel noticed. "I'm afraid of what people will think of me when they see me again."

"People as in…?" Gajeel prompted, raising an eyebrow. He couldn't think of anyone that would think negatively about Shock – she was just too nice to everyone.

"My sister," she whispered, turning her head towards the window again.

Gajeel was slightly taken aback by that. In all the time he had been working with her, Shock had never once mentioned anything about a sister. Come to think of it, she hadn't mentioned anything about her past at all.

"You have a sister?" he asked curiously, no hint of his usual gruffness in his tone.

Shock gave a sarcastic laugh, not moving her eyes from the window. "Yeah, not sure if I still do, though."

Before Gajeel could ask her what she meant, Shock sat bolt upright, her expression flickering from melancholy to horrified in a heartbeat. As he was about to ask what the problem was, the sounds of shouting came from the corridor outside their car. Gajeel could hear the train screeching to a halt on the tracks.

Before the train had completely stopped, Shock was out of her seat and had dashed into the corridor. Ignoring Gajeel's shouts of protest, she pushed and shoved her way through the mass of people gathered outside. She had to get off this train. She had to get to Lilia.

"Shock! Wait! What the hell is up with this bloody train?" Gajeel man-handled people out of his way as he ran after his wayward partner. Her peculiar mood was starting to annoy him.

But Shock just ignored him and slammed into the still-closed train door, forcing it open. desperation giving her strength, she managed to pry the doors open before the conductor could stop her and jumped out of the still-moving train. Growling angrily, Gajeel gritted his teeth and threw himself out after her.

They both landed heavily on the dirt, rolling with the force of the impact. Shaking off the dizziness that spun his vision in circles, Gajeel angrily grabbed hold of Shock's shirt to keep her from bolting off again.

"What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to kill yourself?" he snapped as she struggled to get free.

He tugged her to her feet, dusting his pants off with his free hand. "Why would you fucking jump out of a moving _train_?"

"Let go of me!" Gajeel was surprised at Shock's tone of voice. It was nothing like her usual firm dismissals or joking insults. This was a feral growl, saturated with underlying fury. It startled him that her mood had shifted to rapidly.

Keeping his indifferent façade firmly in place, Gajeel tightened his grip on his partner, intent on getting some answers. He looked at her face – her eyes weren't even focused in him. He followed her line of sight to the town behind her.

It was on fire.

Taking advantage of Gajeel's distraction, Shock ripped her shirt from his grip and bolted towards her home town. Her _burning_ home town. Images of Fizz and everyone else she had grown up with in the small down flashed before her eyes. She had to make sure they were okay. She had to do something to save the town. She had to make it to the military compound and check those precious things were still okay.

Ignoring Gajeel calling out for her, Shock raced down the hill towards the town, her boots kicking up massive clouds of dust in her wake. As she ran, she reached down and pulled the Fire charm from her belt and pressed it to her quivering lips. In mid-flight, the energy of the Fire charm transferred into her body.

Her hair seemed to catch alight, blazing with flames but not actually burning. Her eyes morphed from their usual shade of grey-blue to a deep, bloody red. Clay armor wrapped itself around her tense frame as she sprinted down the hill. A halo of reddish-orange flame cloaked her body, seeming only to strengthen as she breached the wall of fire surrounding the village.

As she dashed though the flaming streets, she let her training subconsciously keep her wayward emotions in check. With a calm, assessing glance, she surmised that the villagers must have evacuated the town – there were no charred corpses on the streets, not screams for help or people running to escape the biting flames.

The sense of worry she had been feeling about her sister's well-being slowly dissipated, but was almost immediately replaced by a crushing panic about the things she was so desperately searching for. Even though she hadn't been in the town in years, Shock knew she was heading in the right direction. She needed to find them… save them from the flames before it was too late. They were the only things that really mattered to her.

..

Gajeel dashed through the burning village after Shock. She had leapt into the flames without so much as a backward glance. He was really starting to doubt that girl's sanity. He had been calling for her, but the smoke from the burning wooden buildings had rendered him unable to speak.

Sprinting past another fallen lamp post, Gajeel spotted Shock making a sharp turn down an alleyway. Doubling his speed, he raced to catch her before she got herself killed.

..

The closer and closer she got to her destination, the more and more panicked Shock became. Her façade of calm was beginning to slip. She could hear her sister's voice in her head, berating her for leaving the village without so much as a goodbye.

_I didn't have a choice. _

Shock skidded and swerved to avoid being crushed by a massive wooden beam that came tumbling down from one of the burning buildings. She could hear Fizz's voice in her head as if she was standing right there.

_That's no excuse. We needed you. I needed you._

Shock's eyes started to water. She couldn't tell whether it was from the smoke pouring from the wooden buildings or tears. The heat of the flames was starting to scorch her skin, even with the clay armor in place.

_I was taken by force! What was I meant to do?_

Her heart was pounding, the smoke making it hard for her to breath. Shock let out a frightened scream as a building collapsed on the alley she had just run out of, showering her in glowing embers.

_You should have fought back! You should have hidden! You should have stayed with me._

Now tears were flowing freely down Shock's soot-stained cheeks. She was sobbing as she ran, great big rib-wracking sobs that shook her to the core. She had abandoned her home; abandoned her responsibilities; she had abandoned her sister. She didn't belong in this town – she should never have come back. And yet here she was, watching her former home fall to pieces around her.

She was almost there – she could see the flagpoles in the distance. What truly hammered the message home was the military flag fluttering at the top – it was completely consumed in flames.

Shock soon burst out of the wall of flames and sprinted onto the wide expanse of dirt that separated the military compound from the village. The mess hall and all the tents were on fire. The gardens were burning. At the front of the compound was the military graveyard.

_Mother, I've lost my mind._

With one final desperate burst of speed, Shock had just about made it to the flaming compound when she was roughly grabbed from behind. She was jerked backwards into a rock-hard body that smelled strongly of smoke. She kicked and struggled, sobbing uncontrollably. She hadn't even realized that the Flame charm had taken its power back. The various burns she had received from running through town didn't even register.

_Daddy, have I crossed the line?_

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Gajeel shouted in her ear, holding her tighter so she couldn't break free.

"Let me go! I have to put the fire out!" she screamed, struggling for all she was worth. She raked her short fingernails down Gajeel's arms, but he wouldn't let her go.

"If you go in there, you'll burn to death!" he growled, dragging her away from the burning compound. The heat was beginning to sear them both.

"No! Let me go!" Shock sobbed as she was helplessly dragged away.

"Shock! Listen to me!" Gajeel snapped, shaking her roughly. This was _not_ the person he had been working with for so long; the person he had come to respect. This was a different person completely. "I will _not_ allow you to kill yourself in there!"

Fatigue started to take control of her limbs, and despite her protests, Shock's struggles started to get weaker and weaker. Eventually, Gajeel had managed to drag her far enough away from the compound so they weren't getting fried alive.

Shock's eyes stayed riveted to the military graveyard. She could only watch in silent horror as her parent's graves burned.

**You know the drill, guys ;)**


	7. Fix You

**Sorry for the wait, loyal fans, but here it finally is! ^^**

**I'm so happy watching the fave and alert list continue to grow! You guys really are something :D**

**Thankyouthankyouthankyou to Nairad, Okami-Nekochan, Narcoleptic-Since-89, Neeky-chan, roonaty, LoVEGOOD, Lizzie-Lizzard and Happy-the-Nekomander for faving and alerting! Much love and fortune shall come your way!**

**Neeky-chan – Thank you! ^^ here's the next one for ya! :3**

**7. Fix You (Coldplay) **

**When you try your best, but you don't succeed**

**When you get what you want, but not what you need**

**When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep**

**Stuck in reverse**

**And the tears come streaming down your face**

**When you lose something you can't replace**

**When you love someone, but it goes to waste**

**Could it be worse?**

**Lights will guide you home**

**And ignite your bones**

**And I will try to fix you**

**And high up above or down below**

**When your too in love to let it go**

**But if you never try, you'll never know**

**Just what you're worth**

**Tears stream down your face**

**When you lose something you cannot replace**

**Tears stream down your face, and i…**

**Tears stream down your face**

**I promise you I will learn from my mistakes**

**Tears stream down your face, and i…**

**Lights will guide you home**

**And ignite your bones**

**And I will try to fix you**

Shock wandered around the aftermath of the devastating fire, kicking charred remains of old wooden houses out of her path as she went.

She was at a loss – her home village lay in ruins and there was no sign of the former inhabitants. She felt numb, like her brain refused to accept the fact that what she was seeing was real.

Gajeel trailed behind his shell-shocked partner, for once not sure of what to say or do. He wasn't exactly experienced in how to deal with these sorts of things.

Shock's mind had switched to autopilot, her feet guiding her subconsciously through the once familiar streets – which had now been reduced to smoking, ash-filled gutters. The partners meandered silently through the deadened town, Gajeel keeping a wary eye out for enemies and just generally making sure that Shock didn't spontaneously decide to do something to injure herself – he could tell she was in a rather fragile state of mind at the moment.

To put it bluntly, he was worried. And he never worried about anyone. Maybe the little Charm mage was leaving an impression on him?

Shock eventually wandered back to the burnt-out military compound, completely oblivious to everything else around her. Her dulled eyes landed on the charred tombstones that marked her parents' burial sites and everything suddenly came crashing down on her.

The smoking blocks of marble seemed to sear themselves into her memory. She had failed to protect the one thing that was most important to her – she couldn't have even saved her parent's tombstones from a simple fire. Shock dropped to her knees, eyes still glued to the grave markers. Tears welled up behind her eyelids and she screwed them shut. After all these years… after everything that happened… Shock wondered why she still even cared. She shouldn't, after all she had been through; after all the death she had seen.

But the fact of the matter was that she did still care. She cared so much that seeing the burnt-out testaments to her parents' existence was worse than a physical blow to her. To her, it meant she was useless. She couldn't even save a pair of gravestones.

Gajeel stood behind his distraught partner, following her gaze to the pair of blackened grave markers a few feet away, in the gutted military compound. He didn't know whose graves they were, but he could tell from Shock's reaction that they were pretty important to her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shoulders slump. He felt a small – very small, but it was there, nonetheless – stab of something akin to pity when he noticed her shaking.

Sighing, he placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. He wasn't exactly sure on how to be comforting, but he felt it was the right action to take. He could feel her shaking increase, and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, to let her know he was still there.

Both Shock and Gajeel's attention was alerted to another presence by the crunching of footsteps on gravel a few feet away. His hand tightened on her shoulder again – this time in a subconscious protective urge. He didn't even register it.

Gajeel turned his head to face the newcomer. Shock just continued to stare at the grave markers. A young girl – no more than fifteen or sixteen years old – stood a little way away from them. Her clothes weren't burned and there was no ash on her, so Gajeel could only assume she had just arrived in town. He was a little surprised when he noted that she looked remarkably like his partner – they had the same eyes, nose and hair colour. The expression on her face turned from curiosity at seeing Gajeel, to open hostility when her eyes fell on Shock.

The girl's tone was heavy with sarcasm when she spoke. "Fancy seeing you around here, Shock. Enjoy the welcoming party?"

Gajeel frowned at her coarse words and knowledge of his partner's name. How did they know each other? Couldn't she see Shock was grieving over something? He looked down at his partner questioningly.

Shock ripped her blank gaze away from the blackened tombstones and slowly brought them to where the younger girl stood. Her expression remained emotionless, as did her voice when she replied, "Good to see you too, Fizz."

Fizz snorted and rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms, taking a few decisive strides towards the pair of mages. "Why the hell did you come back?"

Shock's eyes lingered on Fizz for a moment before returned to the military cemetery. "I had a job here. I thought I could try to make up for the past, but... I should never have come back."

"Damn right, you shouldn't have." Fizz stopped a few feet away, still glaring at her sister. "If you knew how much has happened since you left…"

Shock sighed. She could still feel Gajeel's hand on her shoulder. She knew it shouldn't, but somehow it gave her a little bit of reassurance. She climbed unsteadily back to her feet, dusting the soot off the knees of her cargo pants.

"I didn't leave. I was forced out," Shock returned Fizz's glare with a hard look of her own.

"Yeah, sure. Just keep telling yourself that to feel better," the younger girl scoffed, tossing her head.

Gajeel watched the women's exchanged with a confused expression on his face. He had no clue what the heck they were talking about. Once again, he was reminded of the fact that he knew virtually nothing about his partner's history. He didn't even know who this girl that seemed to be so familiar with Shock was.

Shock ignored the jab and ran a hand over her soot-streaked face. Dealing with Fizz was going to be harder than she had imagined. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, they'll filter back in," Fizz replied icily. "Not that we have anything to repopulate, but hey, who's judging?"

Shock looked back at the smoking wreckage of the town. The guilt she felt was like a gaping chasm in her stomach, threatening to consume her. "Fizz, what happened here?"

"Like it even concerns you," the younger girl snapped angrily.

"If you'll tell me, maybe I can help," Shock ground out, her patience wearing thin.

"Help?" Fizz spat, clenching her fists angrily. "How the hell would you be able to _help_? After all this time, you think you can just waltz back in here and make everything right again? Sorry to burst your bubble, sis, but it isn't going to be that easy!"

Gajeel frowned. Did she just say 'sis'? Was this the sister that Shock had mentioned? He thought it very odd that they seemed like water and oil – it wasn't how he pictured siblings to be. Not like he had any of his own to compare it to, but it was just his opinion. Before he could say anything, though, Shock opened her mouth to speak.

"I know I left things in a bad way, but it wasn't like I had a choice! Would you have been able to resist if they decided to take you along with them?" Shock growled. "I am well aware of the fact that things won't be so easy to fix, but I'm at least willing to try, unlike you!"

At this stage, Gajeel was beyond confused. Who was 'they'? And why did Shock keep saying she had been 'taken'? By whom? And why?

But as he was about to interject and ask what the hell they were going on about, a new voice interrupted the conversation.

"Shock? Is that you, girl?"

All three of them turned to face the newcomer – an elderly man of around sixty, with greying hair and a handle-bar moustache. His dusky blue coat was smudged with soot from the fire-blackened building he was peering out from behind. A young girl of about ten clung to his coattails as she hid behind him.

Shock's gaze snapped to the old man's face, and it was a moment or two before realisation dawned on her. "Mr. Chiavelli?"

At the same time as Shock recognised the older man, the young girl behind him seemed to realise who was standing before them. "Shock!" she shouted in delight, dashing out from behind Mr. Chiavelli and running full-tilt towards the Charm mage.

Shock's expression was surprised when the girl threw her arms tightly around her waist and buried her head in the folds of her burnt jacket. "I missed you so much! Where did you go?"

Blinking away her surprise, Shock smiled gently and knelt down to her girl's level, wrapping her arms around her small shoulders. She hugged her tightly, burying her face in the little girl's hair. It smelled like smoke and ash. "I missed you too, Sammy. I really did."

Sammy pulled back for a moment. Shock's heart cringed when she saw the tears in the young girl's eyes. This was what she had been afraid of – people's reactions to her appearance. She didn't know what she had expected them to do, but she felt like it shouldn't be like this.

"Where'd ya go, Shock? Everyone was so worried!" Sammy's voice shook, and her lower lip quivered.

Shock bit her own lip regretfully, pulling her into another tight hug. "I had to go train for a while – I wish I could have stayed."

Gajeel watched Shock and the young girl for a moment. He wasn't accustomed to seeing her tender side. He wasn't even aware that she had one. But, so much had happened lately that he was beginning to doubt whether he really even knew her at all.

Shock tried to remember the once-comforting smell of Sammy's hair – but now, all she could smell was smoke and fire. It brought tears to her eyes which she refused to shed. She avoided looking at Fizz. She knew the only thing she would receive was another harsh glare and disapproving scowl. And she didn't want to look behind her, because she knew Gajeel would no doubt give her a questioning look and demand explanations that she herself wasn't all too comfortable giving. The only thing she could do was close her eyes and hang onto Sammy like she was clinging to the last shreds of her sanity.

There was more crunching of boots on gravel. Shock forced herself to open her eyes and looked up at Mr. Chiavelli, who was making his way carefully towards them. She noticed the wary glances he was giving Gajeel – and it annoyed her. She was sick of people giving him weird looks when they didn't even know him. Having been working with Gajeel for so long, she knew that he wasn't the monster everyone always made him out to be.

When the older man finally dropped his gaze to the young Charm mage cradling his granddaughter in her arms, he noticed her hardened look and averted his eyes guiltily. Whoever the intimidating man behind her was, she obviously didn't take too kindly to anyone eye-balling him.

Shock loosened her hold on Sammy as Chiavelli cleared his throat and spoke. "What are you doing back here? We all thought you were a gonner when they came and took ya like that."

Shock sighed. "It's a long story. Short version is I made it out alive and joined a mage's guild in Magnolia. Been there a couple of months now."

Behind Chiavelli, Fizz let out a disbelieving snort. "You? A mage? Since when did that happen?"

Shock looked at her younger sister, ignoring her scolding expression. "I've become a lot better with those charms since Mom died. They're what helped me get away to Magnolia in the first place. Being a mage has really-"

"The only reason you could even _be_ a mage is because mom left those blasted charms to you in the first place!" Fizz snapped angrily. "She wouldn't even let me _look_ at them!"

Before Shock could answer, Fizz turned on her heel and stormed back to the wrecked town, fists balled angrily at her sides and her long hair whipping out behind her.

Sammy cast a pleading look at the Charm mage. Shock sighed and released her, watching as the young girl ran after Fizz with a worried look on her face. Shock wearily pushed herself to her feet. The harrowing events of the day suddenly seemed to suck all the strength from her limbs, and she would have crashed to the ground had Gajeel not caught her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, gripping her tightly around the waist.

Even though her head was spinning, Shock shook it. "I'm fine, just tired."

Trying and failing to get to her own feet, Shock resigned to letting Gajeel hold her up. Funnily enough, she didn't mind it so much this time as compared to the first time he had helped her. She thought it odd how her perception of him had changed over the course of the past few months.

Shock turned her attention back to her old family friend. "Chiavelli, what happened here?"

The older man sighed and ran a hand through his silver-grey hair. "It's a long story. You'd better come with me."

…

A while later, old man Chiavelli had Shock seated at one of the stone benches in a park on the outskirts of town that had managed to escape most of the blaze. Shock watched sadly as ash began to drift away from the town, blanketing everything in a fine grey haze.

Gajeel stood behind her, and Chiavelli in front. They both wore identical expressions of utmost seriousness, and she would have laughed had she the will to.

"Now, explain – what happened? Why was the town burned?" Shock asked, her voice heavy with fatigue. Between the stress of coming back to find her hometown in flames and the aggravation of having to deal with her wayward sister was enough to make her want to crawl into a hole and never come out again.

Mr. Chiavelli sighed heavily, wiping a trail of soot from his jacket. "The town was occupied by a Dark Guild a few months after you and a few of the others were taken by the military."

Shock frowned and cast her eyes towards the ground. The regret flared up again, this time stronger than before. It made her feel physically ill.

"The first few months weren't too bad, but then they started demanding taxes. It started off as small amounts, but gradually grew and grew until they were so ridiculously high that no one could afford to pay them. So, for compensation, the Dark Guild gave us the option of working for them to pay off our debts," Chiavelli produced a cigarette and lighter from one of the many pockets of his coat. He lit it and took a few drags, blowing out a steady stream of smoke before continuing.

"They worked us like dogs," he spat, his face contorting rage at the mere memory. "Children – barely older than Sammy – made to work in the mines to bring up coal and iron ore for the Dark Guild's twisted alchemy…it was terrible. A few days ago, the village leaders decided to stage a revolt against the Dark Guild."

Shock raised her eyes from the ground to the grey skies. "I'm guessing they were found out?"

Chiavelli nodded, taking another drag from his cigarette. He blew the smoke from his nose and replied, "You'd be right there. That's why they burnt the village. They gave us two hours to evacuate or go up in flames with everything else."

Gajeel noticed Shock tensing considerably. He could almost feel the waves of anger rolling off her. But he felt indifferent. It was terrible, for sure, but it wasn't his problem.

"Where did they go?" she ground out between clenched teeth. Shock balled her fists so tightly together that her short nails were drawing blood from her palms. It formed rivulets and trailed down her wrists, dripping off her elbows and staining the pale, ash-covered ground bright scarlet.

It was all she could do to keep her rage in check and not go storming off at that very second to hunt for the Dark Guild that had the audacity to treat her village in such a way. She had been gone for so long, but her feelings of love for her hometown hadn't diminished in the slightest. This was where she had been born, where she had been raised – it was where her parents were buried. An image of her parents' charred gravestones flashed in her mind's eye, followed by Fizz's tensed shoulders and she stormed away. Shock bit her lip to keep from screaming.

Those bastards would pay, dearly.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself," Gajeel frowned, noticing the blood dripping from his partner's arms.

"Shut up," she growled, not even looking at him. Her eyes were riveted to Chiavelli's. "Where. Did. They. Go?"

The older man held her fierce gaze for a few moments before relenting. "They made their way into the mountains. Said something about finding 'a better place to get some more cash and cheap labour'."

Shock made to rise, but a thoroughly irked Gajeel clamped a hand down on her shoulder to keep her seated. Once again, he was being ignored. "What the hell are you planning?"

"I'm going after them," she replied in a voice hard and cold as iron. "Those bastards will pay for what they've done here."

A sadistic smirk curved Gajeel's mouth, his grip on her shoulder lessening slightly. "Now _that's_ the Shock I know! Let's go bust some heads."

**More reviews for ch8, please ^^**


	8. Nobody's Home

**xXxDarkShadowWolfxXx – I honestly don't mind when you review, as long as you're enjoying the story :D and thank you! I actually tried to get published a while ago (I don't exactly know what happened), but am very keen to try again! X3**

**Aikoyu Saotome – I hope Gajeel isn't turning out too OOC lol XD I love his irrational violent tendencies ;D Hope everything's alright! I'm sure things will improve, they always do :3**

**Alecia – Fear not! The next update is here! XD I'm so glad you like this so much! :D:D**

**8. Nobody's Home (Avril Lavigne) **

**I couldn't tell you why she felt that way,**

**She felt it everyday.**

**And I couldn't help her,**

**I just watched her make the same mistakes again.**

**What's wrong, what's wrong now?**

**Too many, too many problems.**

**Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.**

**She wants to go home, but nobody's home.**

**It's where she lies, broken inside.**

**With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.**

**Broken inside.**

**Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why.**

**You've been rejected, and now you can't find what you left behind.**

**Be strong, be strong now.**

**Her feelings she hides.**

**Her dreams she can't find.**

**She's losing her mind.**

**She's fallen behind.**

**She can't find her place.**

**She's losing her faith.**

**She's fallen from grace.**

**She's all over the place.**

**She wants to go home, but nobody's home.**

**It's where she lies, broken inside.**

**With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.**

**Broken inside.**

**She's lost inside, lost inside**

Gajeel was slightly relieved when he saw some of Shock's normal fire start to seep back into her eyes. It was better than the depression and anxiety that had been plaguing her for the past few days. After learning the story behind her hometown's destruction, Shock was unstoppable – neither old man Chiavelli nor that little girl, Sammy, had been able to stop her storming out of town and after the Dark Guild.

They were now travelling along one of the quiet country lanes that led from Lilia to the surrounding towns and villages – the one that led through the small mountain range overlooking the decimated village. Gajeel smiled to himself as he followed his irate partner. The situation was turning out rather well – they would be able to legally kick some ass, and they would be finishing their job at the same time. Where they were going to get payment for the job was a different story, with the village in ruins and all, but as long as Gajeel got to bust some heads he was happy.

But he had to admit – he was still extremely curious as to what Shock and her sister had been arguing over, and what Chiavelli had mentioned. Shock in the military? It just didn't add up, someone as small as her being in such a harsh environment. And then everyone kept mentioning her being 'taken'. Why? Who would have taken her and for what purpose?

Gajeel's gaze fell on Shock's tense form as she marched along in front of him, her fists balled angrily at her sides and her shoulders tense. He could almost imagine the look of pure rage that must be flashing across her face at the moment.

"Hey, slow down a little, Squirt," he called, his own pace casual. "Got something I want to ask you."

Up ahead, Shock slowed a little, his voice registering in her tumultuous mind. As much as she hated the nickname, it had sort of stuck since become Gajeel's partner. She had been in her own little world since storming off in pursuit of the Dark Guild, she hadn't even realised Gajeel was following her. She was so angry she could have taken on the entire guild by herself. She paused and waited for her partner to catch up, casting him an enquiring gaze.

"Yeah?" she prompted as they continued side-by-side. She tried to ease some of the tension in her shoulders, but she was still so worked up that she found it almost impossible.

"That girl from the town, the older one… she's your sister?"

Shock nodded, her tone slightly sheepish at the thought of what he must think of the two of them, quarrelling like that. "Yup, that was Fizz."

Gajeel nodded thoughtfully before continuing. "What the hell was she going on about? All that shit about being 'taken'… I don't get it."

She grimaced at that. As much as Shock was loathe to talk about her stint in the conscription camp, she felt Gajeel at least deserved an explanation. He was her partner, after all, and as she thought about it, she realised she had actually started to trust the callous dragonslayer. After hearing so much about it and not understanding a thing, Shock was a little surprised that he hadn't exploded sooner and demanded to know what the hell they were talking about.

"It's a long story," she started slowly, folding her arms and staring down at the ground as she walked. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"How about you start by explaining who they all say you were taken by?" Gajeel answered nonchalantly, like they were talking about something as trivial as the weather.

Gritting her teeth, Shock decided to press on before her instinct got the better of her and she shut her mouth.

"When I was twelve, I was forcefully conscripted into a military camp. I was held there for six years before I managed to escape and found my way to Magnolia," she fought against rushing through it all – what was the use of telling him if he didn't understand?

"Conscripted when you were _twelve_?" Gajeel had to admit, he was surprised. But it made sense – now he could see where his partner had picked all her odd habits up. She never slept more than three or four hours at a time; her near obsession with training and her impressive strength and self-control. Those kinds of things didn't usually come naturally.

Shock nodded, pursing her lips in a grim line. "It was after my mother died – my father had been killed in action when I was only three, so there was no one left to look after me and Fizz. We took to the streets and went our separate ways – the military came through the town and picked me up a year later, sedated me and dragged me along like a dog." She spat the last line distastefully.

Gajeel was quiet for a little while, letting all the things Shock told him sink in. It still didn't add up. He was all for power and all that stuff, but what Shock was saying was a little bit over the top. "What I don't understand is why they would forcefully recruit _children_ into the army. What's the use of it?"

Shock sighed nasally. She shook her head and answered in a quiet voice, "I don't even know myself."

Before her partner could ask anything else, she picked up the loud hum of voices ahead of them, around a bend in the trail. Switching to stealth-mode, Shock's expression turned stony and her eyes gleamed with barely concealed bloodlust. She held out a hand for Gajeel to stop walking, and she herself came to a halt. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to distinguish how many people were ahead of them, and who they were.

When Gajeel tried to ask what was going on, she held a finger to her lips to shush him, not breaking her gaze away from the leafy-strewn bend in the mountain path.

If there was one thing, and one thing only, that she was thankful for about the conscription camp, it was that they had taught her valuable survival and tracking skills.

Tuning out all other sounds around her – the chirps of the birds, the rustle of the wind in the trees, her partner's breathing – she focused solely on the voices floating back to her. She could hear about five different accents, in seven different tones. By her guess, there were about eight or nine men ahead. Creeping along the path to hear them more clearly, Shock started picking up strands of their conversation. They couldn't be too much further along.

"That was by far the easiest raid we've ever done!" one of the men laughed callously.

Shock gritted her teeth, fists clenched. She hid in the shadows at the side of the path, waiting to confirm her suspicions.

"Don't be so sure, there are still a few more towns ahead," another, deeper voice answered. "Lilia was only the second stop."

Suppressing a throaty growl, Shock had to force herself to stay in one place, and not go charging blindly at the Dark Guild that had just so recently decimated their hometown. There was no use in jumping in head-first – she was outnumbered and most definitely not a match for nine fully-grown men. The only advantage she had on her side was speed, and that wouldn't do any good if a fight came down to brute strength.

She shifted slightly to go back to her confused partner, and felt the familiar weight of her charm belt sway on her hips. She allowed a slight, feral grin to curve her mouth. Maybe she _did_ have a chance. And she had Gajeel and his iron fists for back-up, too.

Now the only decision to make was which offensive to take.

Gajeel saw the animalistic look on Shock's face and let one of his own predatory grins break free. It looked like it was time to bust some heads. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. "I take it we're attacking?"

Shock, who was looking down the shadowy path, looked at her partner over her shoulder and flashed a wicked grin. "They won't even know what hit them."

…

"I can't wait till we hit the next town!" a young man, maybe in his early twenties, sighed happily and clasped his hand behind his head as he walked. His guild's last raid had been a raging success – those suckers hadn't even known what had hit them.

He scoffed as he thought of their naïve stupidity – they thought if they had paid the irrationally high taxes, they would leave the town well enough alone. They didn't even realise they were just raising the taxes to make them sweat a little! And when his guild offered to let them work their debts off… the stupid suckers were clambering for the chance!

He snickered and turned to another one of his fellow guild members. "That was the easiest free labour we'd ever managed to find, eh Brulio?"

The older man, with heavy scarring on his weathered face, chuckled as he replied, "Probably won't get that lucky again. They were so scared, they thought if they worked for us we'd leave them in one piece! Never mind we were going to burn the town anyway – we can't chance leaving any evidence behind. Legal guilds would be breathing down our necks in no time!"

"Oh, but they already are."

The group of eight stopped suddenly. Brulio started at the sudden voice. It seemed to melt out of the shadows of the trees.

"Who was that? Show yourself!" he yelled, searching for any sign of the speaker.

"It wouldn't make a difference if you saw me or not… you're dead either way."

The voice sent shivers down the Dark Guild members' spines. It was soft, feminine and calm, but held a deadly undertone to it – like a blade sheathed in velvet. It seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

"You think you're a match for us, girl?" Brulio called out, turning in circles to try and pinpoint the voice. "Come out and face us, then!"

The voice chuckled sensually. "Oh, I'd love to."

Before he could even draw another breath to fire one last taunt, he was enveloped in constricting shadows so tight**,** he was immediately knocked breathless. Suffocating and blind, the shadows continued to tighten around him. The rest of his guild couldn't even hear his screams.

The other eight members of the Dark Guild could only watch in horror as the shadows that had suddenly wrapped around their leader slowly dissipated. His lifeless, crushed form slumped to the ground. A girl seemed to melt out of the darkness of the trees ahead – the murderous aura radiating from her slight form was almost tangible.

Her blood-red eyes seemed to bore into each and every dark mage before her as she took slow, deliberate steps towards them. A pair of gigantic black wings sprouted from her back, made of a writhing mass of shadows. More inky blackness swirled around her body like a poisonous mist, spreading its deadly tendrils towards the petrified men.

The young man who had first spoken, like the rest of his guild-mates, was rooted to the ground in fear. Sure, they were a Dark Guild who practiced alchemy and forbidden magic, but never before had they come across something like this. He had never seen a magic that exuded such hate, such power, such strength all at once. Just the feeling of being too close to it made him feel physically ill. The mysterious girl looked like a demon from hell. And she had even managed to take Brulio, their guild master, down in one fell swoop. It was unnatural.

She stopped next to the lifeless corpse of their leader and nudged him with the toe of her boot. She cocked her head to the side, assessing whether he was really dead or not. Frowning, she muttered, "That was almost too easy." Turning her attention back to the rest of the guild men, she grinned. "Who's next?"

It was as if that simple phrase, uttered with the same tone one would expect of a child asking to play, was the trigger to snap the men out of their trance. On instinct, they scattered, heading back down the trail that would lead them to the town they had just decimated. But before they could get too far, a wall of shadow sprang up before them, blocking off the path and sealing off the forest on both sides.

Two men tried to push through it in their desperation, but quickly found themselves trapped in its jelly-like texture. The shadows swelled and bubbled, melting over the two of them and quickly sucking them in like quicksand. They muffled cries of panic were abruptly silenced.

The remaining six men spun around to face their attacker. She stood in the exact same place as she had before, arms folded and a sadistic smirk on her lips. "You're making this too easy."

"W-who are you?" one of the dark mages stammered, eyes so wide in fear it seemed like they were about to burst from their sockets.

"Who am I?" Shock repeated questioningly. "Who _I _am doesn't matter. This has everything to do with who _you_ are." She directed her statement at what was left of the group.

"What do you mean, who we are?" a mage with sandy brown hair and freckles squeaked. The rest of his guild cast him a lewd eye – he was ruining their reputation. They were meant to be a Dark Guild! Feared by many, and most definitely not scared of some freaky little girl with shadow wings.

"You are the Dark Guild who passed through Lilia Valley not so long ago, are you not?" Shock raised an eyebrow impatiently.

"So what if we are?" another older man with black hair shorn close to his scalp answered aggressively. "What's it to a pipsqueak like you?"

A muscle in Shock's jaw twitched. From his hiding place to her left, Gajeel slapped a hand over his eyes in exasperation at the mage's stupidity. He was facing an extremely pissed-off Shock, and called her short? If she wasn't going to kill any more people before, she sure was now.

Anger bubbling in Shock's veins, she directed the shadow magic swirling around her towards her hands, forming identical black daggers in each of her palms. She clutched their hilts tightly, the blades glinting menacingly in the scattered beams of light falling through the forest canopy.

"First, you destroy my hometown," she ground out through clenched teeth, regarding the man who had spoken with her venomous eyes, "and then you have the _gall_ to insult me? It doesn't work like that."

Quickly trying to gather their scattered courage, the dark mages squared their shoulders and faced Shock, trying their best to ignore the look in her glowing red eyes. They had burned and massacred villages before, they shouldn't be scared of a lone girl with freaky magic. Their combined strength was surely more than enough to handle her… right?

Eyorn, the mage who had jabbed at Shock's height complex, sniggered and formed a ball of lead in the palm of his hand. Using his metal-moulding magic, he pulled a long chain from its base, creating a rounded smashing star of sorts. "Sorry to break it to you, shorty, but that's how it'll be. That village of yours was too easy, anyway. We like more… _challenging_ conquests."

Expression turning stony, Shock narrowed her eyes at the cocky bastard. So that's how he wanted to play it…

Her opponent started swirling his weapon above his head in wide arcs with meaty arms. With each wide swing, it gathered more momentum and eventually reached such a speed that it looked like a solid line of iron rotating over his head. The rest of his fellow guild members exchanged looks, grinning cruelly – no one went up against one of Eyorn's Shooting Stars and won.

While the dark mages were absorbed in there little pre-victory grin-fest, Shock acquired a bored expression and looked over her shoulder at Gajeel. He just shook his head at their enemy's stupidity and over-confidence. She sighed and smirked, nodding her head at the rapidly spinning weapon.

"Hungry?"

Gajeel grinned, the metal studs adorning his face flashing. "Consider this my breakfast."

…

Eyorn, seeing that the girl wasn't paying attention to the immediate threat before her, grinned maliciously and sent his lead projectile flying with deadly accuracy. It whistled through the air like a bullet, flying straight and true towards its unsuspecting target. He could almost see the ball crashing into her skull, knocking her head clean off her shoulders. He revelled at the sight of blood.

Glancing at the incoming projectile, Shock merely sighed an annoyance. Did they really think that little cannonball would be enough to stop her? Really, she expected more from a Dark Guild. All she did was simply lean to the side to avoid it as it whistled harmlessly past her ear.

Eyorn and the rest of the Dark Guild could only gape in a mixture of amazement and shock at the girl's blatant lack of concern over the deadly weapon hurtling towards her. She regarded it with what looked like _boredom_ in her eyes. At the last moment, the girl leaned a little to the left, letting the Shooting Star sail harmlessly past her head. Behind her, another monster of a mage caught it deftly in one hand.

He grinned at their dumbstruck expressions and crushed the lead ball in his impossibly strong grip. They continued to watch in horrified fascination as he proceeded to take a large bite out of the solid metal weapon.

The metal studs embedded in his face seemed to shift and slide as the creature thoughtfully chewed Eyorn's deadliest attack. Finally, he swallowed and cast the shell-shocked mages a disinterested look.

"Not bad," he chuckled darkly.

His shadow-drenched partner laughed smugly at their blank, wide-eyed expressions. "You might want to pick your jaws up off the floor – it's ruining your reputation."

Shock, seeing that they were a little _too_ dumbfounded by Gajeel's normal behaviour, flung one of her shadow knives at the men. It stuck in the ground at the nearest one's feet, quivering slightly. That seemed to break them out of their trance.

Gripping their weapons tightly, the six remaining men all charged forward with a half-hearted warcry, the fright in their eyes making Shock's blood sing with the anticipation of battle. The shadow magic she controlled harboured all of her negative, war-loving emotions that she normally hid away. But in cases like these, it was such fun setting them free. It was like the shadows had a mind and personality of their own, amplifying her anger and bloodlust tenfold.

"Let's get this party started!" she cried jovially, launching herself into the fray with a feral grin, more shadow knives appearing in her hands.

Gajeel smirked and jumped in after her. He couldn't let her have _all _the fun, now could he?

…

In a matter of minutes, it was over. The remnants of the Dark Guild lay sprawled across the forest path and surrounding areas, some dead and others dying. When Shock fought, she was ruthless. Even Gajeel had been a little surprised at her violence.

But when things she held dear were desecrated, she held no sympathy for the perpetrators.

The Charm mage picked her way over the bodies, nudging them with her boot to make sure they were dead. Most of them hadn't stood a chance against her and Gajeel's combined attacks – she would either suffocate them in her shadow cloaks or slit their throats with her black daggers, or she would pin them in one spot and let Gajeel do the rest.

One of the men groaned – she remembered he had put up quite a good fight with his wind magic, but hadn't been able to blow the shadows away. She stopped, looking down at him. She was overcome by a sudden wave of melancholy.

Hadn't she promised herself that she would start again? That she wouldn't go back to her old ways? She had escaped from the camp for a reason – she had hated everything they stood for. The constant fighting and death… she had hated it. And yet here she was, doing it all over again.

Images of her decimated hometown and her parents' charred, blackened gravestones flashed in her mind's eye. They may have been brief, but they were enough to remind her of what she was fighting for. She slammed a booted foot down heavily on the lone survivor's neck.

Hearing the sickening crunch, Gajeel looked up from where he crouched, pausing in his search of one of the dark mage's pockets. Finding nothing of interest, he let the tattered coat fall to the ground and slowly ambled over to where his partner stood.

He glanced down from where her foot rested on the dead man's broken neck and back up to her blank expression. "I never had you pinned for the ruthless type," he commented.

Shock just shrugged. "I have no sympathy for those who mess with anyone close to me."

The way she said it – so matter-of-factly, like it was the most obvious answer in the world – made him laugh. She turned to face him, cocking her head to the side and raising an eyebrow curiously. "What's so funny?"

Gajeel just shook his head, smirking. "Nothing."

Pulling a tongue at him, Shock stepped over the corpse and began heading back down the trail to Lilia. She had things to do, people to talk to.

Looking over his shoulder one last time at the destruction they had created, Gajeel grinned and followed his partner. That sure had been fun.

Pretty soon, he noticed Shock slipping into her own little world again. Wondering what she was thinking about, he nudged her shoulder with his elbow.

"Hmm?" she looked up at him, hands clasped behind her back.

"What're you thinking about?" he asked conversationally. He suddenly felt sociable – that, for him, was new territory. And how better to explore it than with his partner? She was always encouraging him to be more approachable, anyway.

Shock shrugged, looking down at the dirt beneath her feet as they walked. "Nothing much. Just what to do when we get back to village."

"We still need to get paid for this, you know."

Shock smacked his arm in mock annoyance. "Is money all you ever think about?"

Gajeel smiled, and Shock almost fell over – for once, there was nothing sarcastic or taunting about it. Hell, it wasn't even a smirk. Just a plain old, normal smile. "No… food is pretty important, too."

"Typical male," Shock laughed, rolling her eyes. "Only concerned with your stomach."

"Not all the time!" he protested.

"Oh really?" Shock folded her arms and arched an eyebrow, smirking. "Then what are you concerned with the rest of the time?"

Gajeel returned the smirk, mimicking her posture. "Not like I'd ever tell you, Squirt."

"Again with the annoying nicknames!" Shock shoved her partner playfully, walking away from him and laughing.

"They're not going anywhere anytime soon, so you might as well get used to it," Gajeel quickly caught up with her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. He knew it annoyed her to no end when people emphasised her lack of height.

Shock swiftly spun out from under his arm, beginning to jog down the forest path. "I'll meet you back at the village, I have some things I need to do!" she called over her shoulder as she ran.

She sped up and disappeared around a bend in the path. Gajeel shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head as a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. That girl was so strange sometimes.

…

Shock's smile faded as she ran. She knew she shouldn't be running away again, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't let people get close to her again – it only brought pain and suffering. She thought of her sister and it only strengthened her resolve.

She may condemn herself to a life devoid of deeper connections, but as long as it kept the people around her safe, she didn't care.

She turned her thoughts back to Lilia – she had a plan to help the town, but no one was going to like it. She gritted her teeth and sped up. She was going to carry it through whether they liked it or not.

It took Shock about ten minutes to jog back to Lilia. As the ruined town came into sight, she felt her heart constrict painfully. She may not be able to change what happened between her and Fizz, but she could try her best to make it up to the rest of the villagers at least.

She stopped near the outskirts of the village, looking around sadly. Ash still drifted down from the skies, making everything dull and grey. She realised she had come to a stand-still next to the burnt-out military compound. Her melancholy gaze drifted to where her parents' graves lay under a pile of charred wood and still-glowing ambers. She took a deep breath and focused on the task at hand. She knew what she had to do, even if it _did_ cost her.

Her shaking hand drifted down to her belt, grasping one of her charms. Stilling the tremors, she pulled the Time charm from its loop and brought it up towards her face. The opal and tiger's eye stones glittered in the watery sunlight filtering through the clouds. She had always wondered how such a powerful charm could seem so unassuming.

She knew she had to use this charm to make up for her past wrongs. She had to help the village, it was only right. Shock knew the consequences of using the Time charm, but it was something she had to bear with.

"Shock, what are you doing?"

The young Charm mage looked up from her charm, eyes locking onto Fizz's confused face. She stood a little ways away, to her older sister's left, in front of the military compound. The smouldering flag fluttered weakly in the breeze.

Shock looked back at the charm in her palm, her expression unreadable. "I think you have a pretty good idea."

"You can't," Fizz's tone was incredulous. "You know what Mom said about never using that."

She just titled her head, studying Time intently. She mused how deceiving it really was, acting all innocent as it lay there in her palm. "I have to, Fizz. It's the least I can do to help the village."

"The village will rebuild itself!" Fizz protested. "You can't regrow a part of your life, Shock!"

Shock smiled sadly, her heart heavy but her mind set. "It's something I can live with."

There were more footsteps behind her.

"What's she talking about?" Gajeel asked as he arrived.

Shock frowned. He'd heard too much already. This was going to get trickier… once he knew what the Time charm could do, he wouldn't let her use it.

Before she could try and make an excuse, Fizz butted in and answered for her.

"The Time charm can turn back small amounts of time and restore certain things to previous conditions," the younger girl bit out angrily, her eyes never straying from her sister's blank face. "But only at the cost of part of the user's life force. In other words, the more you use it, the more time is takes off your lifespan as compensation."

Gajeel shot Shock a sharp look. "You're not thinking what I think you're thinking, right?"

She looked over her shoulder at her incredulous partner. His heart sank when he saw the amount of conflicting emotions in her eyes – there was a lot of fear there. She was dead scared, and he could see it. But there was determination there, too – she wasn't going to be swayed from her decision. But most of all, there was sadness and regret. They flitted in equal measures across her features, almost rolling off her in waves.

He wasn't used to seeing her so confused and conflicted. It unsettled him, made him concerned – neither emotions which he usually felt. As if she could communicate with him using her eyes alone, he suddenly understood how she felt. She felt responsible for what had happened to her village, though she wasn't even directly involved. She still felt it was her duty to help make things right.

Expression softening, Gajeel sighed. There was nothing anyone could say that would change her mind now. Even at a time like this, she was so stubborn.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked his partner, his tone uncharacteristically gentle.

Shock offered him a watery smile and nodded, blinking back tears. She could live with whatever consequences as long as she could try make _something_ right again.

Seeing the exchange between the two mages, Fizz just gaped in shock. "You're not seriously letting her go through this, are you?" she nearly screeched at the dragonslayer.

"Careful, Fizz," Shock muttered quietly, turning her attention back to the Time charm clutched in her hand. She closed her eyes. "You might make me start to think that you actually care."

Fizz could only look on helplessly as her sister slowly brought the deadly charm to her lips. Before it connected, though, she used her last resort.

"You know that's the charm that killed Mom, right?"

Shock stopped suddenly, her eyes snapping open. "Yes, I do. That's irrelevant and you know it, Fizz."

"It's not 'irrelevant'!" the younger girl hissed, fists clenched angrily. "It was because Mom tried to bring Dad back with that charm that she got sick and died! It took too much of her life force! And you want to do the same thing to yourself? Don't you care?"

"The reason I'm doing this is because I care!" Shock snapped, shooting a glare in her sister's direction. "That's my bloody problem! _I care too much!_"

Fizz couldn't think of a sharp retort to that. Gajeel watched their heated exchange in silence. He knew this was something Shock had to handle herself.

"You may _think _I abandoned everything here; you act like I had a _choice_!" Shock continued, her tone rising with every word. "I never _wanted_ to leave! But you think the military cares about that shit? _Not a chance in hell!_ When I finally got out, the only reason I didn't come back here was because I was scared of what people would think of me, disappearing so soon after Mom's death and leaving you behind like that!"

"Shock…" Fizz's expression turned from stony to pained. "I didn't…"

The Charm mage was literally screaming now. "I came back here to make things right again, to show people that I didn't _abandon_ anyone! I'm helping this village because I care! Don't you get it, Fizz? The only reason I'm willing to sacrifice part of my _life_ for these people – for you – is because I _care!_"

Fizz held a hand over her mouth, tears flowing freely down her ash-covered cheeks. She had gone through so much of her life hating her sister, calling her selfish, accusing her of abandoning her… and yet she was willing to give up something so precious to save a village she no longer had anything to do with, even after everything that had happened; after all the horrible things Fizz had said to her.

Seeing her sister's tears, Shock's expression softened. Her eyes turned pleading. "Please Fizz. Let me do this," she added softly, holding the Time charm to her chest. "If not for you, then for the rest of the villagers. For Sammy, and Mr. Chiavelli."

Fizz just started crying harder, giant silent sobs she struggled to keep in. She kept her hand clamped firmly over her mouth to stop from screaming how sorry she was. It was far too late for something as trivial as that. Shock saw her sister's struggle and smiled understandingly. She nodded her head and Fizz looked away, her heart dropping.

Shock was going to use Time, no matter what anyone said.

The Charm mage took a deep, steadying breath and fixed her gaze on the burned, dishevelled town before her. It was now or never. Steeling her resolve before she could lose it, Shock brought the Time charm to her lips and called on its power.

The power washed over her, swirling around her like a vortex of wind. It ripped her baggy cargo pants and tank top away, instantly replacing it was a scholar-like brown robe that trailed down to the ground, brushing her ankles. She closed her eyes and let the magic seep into her veins; she let it become one with her, take her over.

A large clock face appeared above her head, rusted antique arms ticking solidly as more time passed with each second. The wind soon dissipated, leaving Shock in control of the new magic that sang through her veins. She suddenly felt… older. Like she had seen far too much for her years. Like the annals of time had suddenly been opened to her, for her to use at her leisure. She knew it was just the magic making itself known, but it still felt… strange.

Shock collected her scattered thoughts and focused on the task at hand. Using the magic coursing through her veins, she collected it in her fingertips and pulled at the strings of time connected to every object in the town – she gave them slight tugs, pulling everything back through time and slowly restoring them to their former glory. Before her eyes, buildings regenerated support beams and porches; shattered glass seemed to float back up from the ash-strewn ground and re-formed themselves into the panes of windows; fallen lamp posts righted themselves and flickered to life.

To her eyes, the strings were visible and physical; she could feel them, pull them, twist them how she wished. Every string was attached to a building, a window, a table or a chair – everything that had a past, she could manipulate.

Slowly, the town started to reshape and regrow. The ash that littered the cobbled streets fluttered away as a gale blew through the village. Glowing embers that had once been parts of furniture and buildings built themselves up again, morphing back into their original states.

Gajeel and Fizz could only watch in mute fascination as the village literally rose back from the ashes it had been reduced to. Buildings regrew missing planks and shattered windows, shop-fronts knitted themselves together again, trees sprang up from piles of ash and embers on the sidewalks.

Amazing as the sight was, Gajeel couldn't help but take a glance at his partner. Her arms were extended, fingers playing some foreign melody on an invisible harp able to bend back time. The concentration on her face was immense – sweat beaded her brow and her eyes were tightly screwed shut. She mouthed silent words the entire time. He could see the strain it was taking on her – Shock's skin was beginning to pale, her shoulders and knees shaking.

One leg buckled, sending the young mage crashing to her knees. Gajeel took a step forward, concerned, but she still kept going. She grimaced slightly in pain, never missing a beat as she plucked the invisible strings at her fingertips. When Gajeel next glanced at the village, it was almost complete.

With a deep sigh, Shock finally released the magic, her arms dropping down the ground to support her shaking body. Her breathing was laboured, sweat dripping from her nose and chin. Cracking an eye open, she scrutinised her handiwork – all of the wooden buildings were back in one piece, the tree-lined avenues shaded and ash-free. All the bright shop-fronts she remembered dashing under as a child were back, just as colourful as ever.

Managing to move her head so she could see over her shoulder, Shock was relieved to see that the military compound was whole again – the village flag fluttered proudly atop its pole. The two graves – her parent's graves – were good as new, their marble grave markers glittering in the sunlight.

Fizz, wide-eyed and gasping, ran back into the renewed village, no doubt making straight for her and Shock's old house to see if it was still standing. A triumphant grin gracing her features, Shock let her head drop back down. She had done it. The town was back to normal. The villagers could carry on with their lives, and she could continue rebuilding hers.

Gajeel began to walk towards his exhausted partner, sighing in relief that she was still conscious.

Shock tried pushing herself to her feet, but as soon as she moved, a blinding pain struck her full-on in the chest. She cried out, her vision going white with the intensity of the pain. In the back of her anguished mind, she knew this was the Time charm taking its dues.

She collapsed, arms wrapped around her chest as if to try keep and herself together. It felt like her heart was being ripped out piece by piece, along with her lungs. The pain was so intense she couldn't breathe. She writhed on the ground, teeth clenched to the point of cracking. She screwed her eyes shut to try and block out the pain, but a fresh wave of it swept over her body, making her cry out again.

She dimly registered Gajeel at her side, a hand grabbing roughly at her shoulder, a concerned voice. But she was trapped, trapped within the pain and anguish the Time charm was inflicting upon her for using it. She wished the pain would just stop; she would do anything for the pain to stop.

Then, suddenly, everything went black.

**Oh noes! *le gasp***

**More reviews (even if it's just you telling me what you like about the story) and we'll find out what has become of our dearest Shock!**

**XP**


	9. Say All I Need

**Sorry for this being so late, I was on holiday in another part of the country for a while and didn't have my laptop (or an internet connection, for that matter) with me for two weeks :/**

**AHMAHAGAD there has been such a long build-up to this chapter DX**

**You know this was the scene that first got me started on writing this whole story? **

**And finally…here it is…I pray I don't fail it -_-' I tried writing mainly in Gajeel's perspective this chapter… not sure how well it came out, but I tried XP**

**Thanks to everyone for the faves and alerts! ^^  
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**Zororenjilover – Thank you! I like my characters to have some substance :3**

**9. Say All I Need (OneRepublic)**

**Do you know where your heart is?**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Or did you trade it for something**

**Somewhere better just to have it?**

**Do you know where your love is?**

**Do you think that you lost it?**

**You felt it so strong, but**

**Nothing's turned out how you wanted**

**Well, bless my soul**

**You're a lonely soul**

**Cause you won't let go**

**Of anything you hold**

**Well, all I need**

**Is the air I breathe**

**And a place to rest**

**My head**

**Do you know what your fate is?**

**And are you trying to shake it?**

**You're doing your best and**

**Your best look**

**You're praying that you make it**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Better than you had it**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Do you think you can find it?**

**Yeah, better than you had it (Better than you had it)**

**I said I all I need**

**Is the air I breathe**

**And a place to rest**

**My head**

**Whenever the end is**

**Do you think you can see it?**

**Well, until you get there**

**Go on, go ahead and scream it**

**Just say it**

It had been a few months since Shock and Gajeel had completed their job in Lilia, and the two seemed to have a greater understanding of each other after all that had happened. Gajeel knew not to press Shock about what had happened in her past and her relationship with her estranged sister – she would open up when she felt like it – and she knew not to question his ability as a mage.

But while Gajeel's relationship with Shock was improving, his ties with the other guild members were as brittle and volatile as ever. He spoke little to anyone else besides Natsu and Levy, and even then those moments were few and far between.

Most of the time he avoided going into the guild house because all he ever got were suspicious looks and dagger-like glares from people who still didn't trust him.

But when he saw his partner – who had been welcomed into the guild with open arms – be so accepted and well-liked by the people who despised him, it made him feel… frustrated. One could even say he was envious of her climbing popularity. Gajeel remembered when Shock had first shown up at the guild – she had been so distant and recluse, and hadn't spoken a word to anyone besides Levy and Mirajane for about two months.

He had seen a familiar aura of distrust radiating from her – she seemed to have no faith in human compassion or kindness, and was a little lost when it was given to her. When he saw that, it made him feel… not so alone in his own ways.

Fairy Tail was completely new to Gajeel – in Phantom Lord, he had been feared by his peers for his superior strength and violent ways. He had never socialised with any of his old guild members because he felt he had been above them. But then he'd left when Phantom Lord was all but destroyed. Why he had felt compelled to join the very guild that had defeated it, he still didn't know. Maybe Makarov had finally gotten through to him on some level.

But when he'd arrived, there was nothing but hate and contempt thrown his way – he had to admit that on some level he deserved it. He had destroyed their guild house and attacked Shadow Gear, after all. But he was willing to try push past his glaring superiority complex and atone for those sins. No one gave him a chance to try, though.

Even when he had protected Levy from Laxus, the guild still acted wary of him. So he kept to himself. He maintained his tough, unapproachable façade to keep the others away – he would rather be alone than persecuted.

But then Shock came along. After finding her own feet in the guild, she showed him that not everyone was so hate-filled and aggressive. She had managed to convince him in a matter of months to at least try and give them and chance again, and be an active part of a guild she had come to love so much.

He had decided to take her advice for once, and not write it off as more of her nonsensical rubbish. He had to admit, she had a point. He was tired of being rejected and feared all the time. Gajeel had started on trying to repair his relationship with Levy. So far, it had been mostly a success.

Shock, having seen the improvement, encouraged him to try it with other members of the guild after they had returned from Lillia. Trusting her judgment, he had decided to give it a chance.

Which was how he found himself in his current situation.

He sat next to his partner at one of the long wooden tables running across the guild hall, surrounded by other members of Fairy Tail. He noted that some of the less-hostile mages were there as well, and suspected Shock had organised that to make him feel a little more comfortable. Not that he would admit it to her, but seeing Natsu, Grey, Juvia, Erza, Happy, Lucy and Levy there was helping the encounter feel less strained.

He still wasn't all that at ease, though. He tried his best to ignore the glares directed at him from Levy's partners, but they were a little too heated to disregard. It seemed they still hadn't forgotten about the 'incident'…

Shock nudged him with her elbow, breaking away from the idle chatter for a moment.

"Stop looking so aggressive. This isn't going to work if you keep looking like that," she half-scolded in a whisper, nodding her head towards some unfamiliar mages at the other end of the table.

Gajeel tried to ease the tension out of his shoulders, rolling them. "It's a habit," he muttered, rolling his eyes at her. "They're aggravating me."

Shock snorted. "Just follow my lead, they don't bite."

"Not you, they don't," he mumbled under his breath as Shock launched herself back into the conversation humming around the table. He noted that her sunny optimism seemed to be blinding her to the looks he was getting and sighed. She really did have high hopes for him.

"So, been on any interesting assignments lately?" she asked Lucy casually, nudging Gajeel with her knee to garner his attention. She would draw him into this conversation whether he wanted to talk or not. It was part of her 'tough love' policy – if she didn't give him a push, he was never going to socialise with anyone.

"Yeah, we did actually!" Lucy smiled brightly – it was one of the things Shock liked about the stellar spirit mage, she was always so upbeat. A moment later, her expression turned a little sheepish as she continued, "But Natsu sort of destroyed the theatre we were working at…"

Shock laughed, surprising both Lucy and Gajeel - _that_ was certainly something that didn't happen very often. "Don't worry, the first mission Gajeel and I did as a team kind of ended the same way**.**" she scratched the back of her head, thinking fondly back to the first time she and her partner had worked together.

Giving Gajeel a pointed look, Shock commanded him silently to join in the conversation. When all he did was give her a blank look in return, she kicked him in the shin rather hard. Biting back a curse and shooting his hot-tempered partner a glare, Gajeel added, "Only because you started a fight!"

Shock scowled. "I did not! You questioned my ability as a mage – I was merely demonstrating my worth," she replied with a huff.

"Some worth that was," Gajeel muttered with a smirk. It was so entertaining winding the charm mage up.

She looked at him sharply, a retort on her tongue, but Lucy's laugh stopped her. Shock and Gajeel looked at the blonde mage questioningly.

Between giggles, Lucy said, "Sorry, it's just that you two remind me so much of how Natsu and I act on missions."

Shock smiled and laughed a little more when Natsu leaned over to Lucy, almost shouting over the din, "I heard my name!"

Gajeel looked at Shock, noticing her reaction. He realised she looked…_ happy_ here, happier than she had been when she first joined. A small smile curved one side of his mouth. Maybe he could make it work, too.

Just maybe.

"I was just telling Shock how much she and Gajeel remind me of how we act sometimes," Lucy explained, shoving Natsu into a sitting position and scowling at him good-humouredly.

Natsu looked like he was letting the information sink in a little for a moment. Then, suddenly, he pointed to Gajeel and exclaimed with a determined grin, "I still want that rematch!"

Gajeel replied with his own feral grin, "Good luck kid, I still don't think you have what it takes."

"We'll see about that!"

Shock smiled again, seeing how comfortable Gajeel was when bantering with Natsu. Maybe her plan was working, after all. She caught Lucy's eye and the older girl smiled.

"They really are very much alike, aren't they?" the blonde laughed, resting her arms on the table and watching the two fondly.

Shock gave a small laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose they are."

"Don't compare Natsu to that monster," Droy, one of Levy's team mates, growled, glaring at Lucy briefly before transferring his heated gaze to Gajeel. "They're nothing alike!"

"Droy!" Levy cast him a shut-the-hell-up look, looking herself mortified. She knew just how hard Shock was trying to integrate Gajeel into the guild, and how hard the dragonslayer was trying to fit in.

"It's true, isn't it?" Droy continued angrily. Gajeel met his glare with an icy look of his own. The two didn't break eye contact as more of the less-familiar guild members cast their own disapproving looks at the black-haired mage.

"Don't say things like that!" Levy reprimanded sharply. Shock's stomach started to sink – Gajeel may have been keeping his cool for the moment, but she had a feeling that after one more outburst from any of the others and he would snap…

Droy broke eye contact with Gajeel for a moment to cast an incredulous look at his blue-haired partner. "Don't tell me you've forgotten what he did to you! How can you say he's not a monster?"

Shock's shoulders dropped. She knew that was it. She didn't even flinch when Gajeel stood abruptly from the table, fists clenched and jaw tight. She watched helplessly as he stormed away from the group, shoulders tensed, her heart contracting painfully. He had been trying so hard, and Droy had to go and say something like that – bringing up a past Shock was trying hard to let Gajeel forget.

The charm mage turned her head to Levy's partner and shot him a venomous look. "How dare you!"

"What do you mean, 'how dare I'?" he retorted sharply. "He's done things to this guild that you would be appalled at if you knew!"

"He's my partner, how could I not know what he's done?" Shock hissed angrily.

"And you're still defending him!" Droy spat.

"He's trying to make up for his mistakes!" she spat, slamming her hands down on the table and rising to her feet. "You could at least be decent enough to give him a chance!"

Leaving a rather speechless table behind her, Shock sprang over the bench and ran after her irate partner, her blood seething in indignation. Who they hell did they think they were? They didn't even know how Gajeel was trying to change. Now Shock could see why her partner had kept himself so isolated before… some of the others just couldn't let the past go. It saddened her – she thought everyone deserved a shot at redemption.

…

Gajeel stormed through the guild house doors, his blood boiling. That idiot from Shadow Gear infuriated him – why he hadn't killed him before, he didn't know. He was starting to wish he had.

Anger coursed through his veins, so much so that the edges of his vision had started to turn red. This was why he refused to associate himself with any of the other mages in Fairy Tail – they were far too petty for his liking.

He was starting to wish he had never listened to Makarov; that he had never joined this pathetic guild in the first place. He would have rather gone rogue and joined a dark guild than be subjected to that.

"Gajeel, wait!"

He didn't slow down as he heard his partner call after him. It was all her fault, anyway – trying to play puppet master and make him do things he didn't want to. If it wasn't for Shock, he wouldn't have had to deal with Droy's accusations or the other's glares. It annoyed him to simply be around the weaklings, but he had done it to shut that nagging girl up. Somehow, he had always known that the other mages would never give him any type of respect. They were far too narrow-minded for that. Why he had even bothered to try in the first place, he didn't know. He hoped Shock was satisfied now.

Her footsteps got louder and louder as she tried to catch up to him. Gajeel wouldn't stop – he didn't feel like listening to any more of her half-brained ideas.

"Hold on, will ya?" Shock cut him off, bringing him to a stop.

Gajeel folded his arms, glaring down at his smaller partner angrily. "Happy now?"

Shock scratched the back of her head, grimacing. "Droy shouldn't have said what he did. He didn't realise that you're trying to make up for things…"

"I'm done trying," Gajeel growled, shaking his head. "These weaklings aren't worth my time."

Shock sighed and looked at his apologetically. He felt like shaking her. "Look, it'll take time for them to realise that they're wrong to be doing this, but we have to start somewhere!"

"I don't care what the hell they think!" he snapped. "I don't need them!"

"Gajeel…" Shock's expression turned sympathetic. That just made him even more angry – the last thing he needed from anyone – especially _her_ – was sympathy.

"No, Shock," he cut her off. "I don't need them! I don't need this guild to make me stronger! All I _need_ is a place to keep out of the cold at night and to train! I don't need anyone's _acceptance_ – not the guilds', and certainly not _yours_!"

A myriad of emotions washed over the charm mage's face – first shock, then pain and hurt, and finally, her expression settled into a stony mask.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it," Shock's voice was icily calm, her eyes colder still. If he had looked hard enough, Gajeel would have seen searing pain in their depths.

She was hurt that he didn't want to try anymore… that he considered her acceptance to worthless. It felt as though someone was squeezing her heart, trying to crush it. And just when she had started feeling like she could open up to him… she guessed she must have just been delusional to think that could ever have happened.

Shock started walking back to the guild house, arms folded. She stopped just beside her partner and looked at him through the corner of her eye. Her mouth curled into a slight snarl as she asked, "If you don't need anyone's _acceptance_, then why are you even here?"

Before he could answer, Shock started walking again. Gajeel turned to shoot a retort, but stopped when he caught sight of her guild stamp proudly emblazoned on her lower back, just under the hem of her half-shirt.

For a moment, he felt a pang of regret, maybe even guilt. But as suddenly as it had appeared, he squashed it. Expression melting into a frown, Gajeel noticed Shock's tense shoulders and the unevenness of her steps.

Shaking his head as if to banish any images of both his partner and guild from his mind, Gajeel stormed away from the guild and everyone in it.

**I hope I managed to do this chapter justice…**


	10. Believe Me

**Apologies for lateness, ****I feel so bad for neglecting my account…**

**They're really not shy to heap on the work in the first term of school ^^;**

**Sort of had to hit the ground running and haven't stopped :s**

**And many thanks to my Beta-reader, Aikoyu Saotome for her patience with my slow updates and helping me go over all the finer details of the story that needed some cleaning up (like my grammar ^^;)**

Deirim – Really sorry for not updating sooner, I had no internet at home for the past few days and before that I was hit by an extreme case of writer's block and lack-of-time sickness ^^;

I plan my chapters out in advance, so that may be why you feel the first few were a bit rushed – but I am open to constructive criticism, and appreciate the feedback :D I'll definitely work on the flow of my stories more to rectify that ^^

indescribable music - Thank you! I'm glad you like it :D

Kaito – Wow, I feel honored in that case 0.o I'm glad my stuff has the power to improve a week! :D And sorry for keeping you waiting so long for an update ^^;

DribbleDrabble4ever - Thank you! I'll try and work on keeping them in character better in future, in that case :)

10. Believe Me (Fort Minor)

Back then, I thought you were just like me  
>Somebody who could see all the pain I see<br>But you proved to me unintentionally  
>That you would self-destruct eventually<br>Now I'm thinking like the mistake I made doesn't hurt  
>But it's not gonna work<br>Cause it's really much worse than I thought  
>I wished you were something that you were not<br>And now this guilt is really all that I got

You turned your back  
>And walked away in shame<br>All you got is a memory of pain  
>Nothing makes sense so you stare at the ground<br>I hear your voice in my head when no one else is around  
>What do I have to say<br>Maybe I should do what I have to do to break free  
>What ever happens to you, we'll see<br>But it's not gonna happen with me

I guess  
>That this is where we've come to<br>If you don't want to  
>Then you don't have to believe me<br>But I won't be there when you go down  
>Just so you know now<br>You're on your own now believe me

I guess  
>That this is where we've come to<br>If you don't want to  
>Then you don't have to believe me<br>But I won't be there when you go down  
>Just so you know now<br>You're on your own now believe me

Do what i have to do  
>You're on your own now believe me<p>

What ever happens to you  
>You're on your own now believe me<p>

What do I have to say  
>You're on your own now believe me<p>

It's not gonna happen with me  
>You're on your own now believe me <p>

It had taken a few days for Gajeel's temper to die down a smidgen. Not to say that he wasn't still angry… he shot looks like daggers at the male members of Shadow Gear whenever he got the chance. He had stayed away from the guild house for the majority of the past week, not wanting anything to do with it or its members after the incident. But he had calmed down enough to grudgingly realize that he shouldn't have snapped at Shock the way he had.

And it was with this reluctant realization that he went in search of his partner. In his mind, he felt that he should at least _try_ and apologize for his harsh words – but apology was something that didn't sit quite so comfortably with Gajeel. He was more of the 'act-without-regret' type of person – although treating Shock the way he had was one of the extremely few things he did indeed regret.

When he entered the guild house, it was early enough in the morning that not very many people were milling about but Gajeel preferred it that way; there were less people around to give him hostile glares, and less people he had to hand out death-glares to. Face settling into his usual 'talk-to-me-and-I'll-kill-you' look, he strolled over to the bar counter, assuming that Shock would be on her usual duty.

But when his eyes scanned the newly-polished bar counter, she was nowhere to be seen.

Frowning, Gajeel assumed she had just left momentarily and would be back soon enough. He took his usual seat and waited. When she still didn't appear after a few minutes, Gajeel's frown deepened and he peered down both ends of the counter. Still no sign of her. It wasn't like Shock to miss duty…

Noticing Mirajane at the end of the counter, doing something or other he didn't really care about, Gajeel waved her over.

"Where's Shock?" he asked, a frown still etched on his face. He figured if anyone knew where she was, it was either Mirajane or Levi.

The young woman looked surprised. "Didn't she tell you?"

Gajeel's expression immediately turned suspicious. "Tell me what?"

Mirajane began absent-mindedly polishing the already-sparkling glass she held in her hand with the edge of her apron. "She left on a solo mission this morning. Said she wanted some time alone."

Gajeel's temper flared right up again, but he shoved it down as quickly as possible. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know exactly, she said something about a village on the edges of Fiore," she answered, still focusing intently on the glass. "Although she did tell me to tell you not to follow her."

He snorted. Like hell he'd take orders from that little charm mage. "Which village?"

Mirajane gave him an uneasy look. "I really shouldn't say…"

Gajeel stood from the bar stool, letting his most menacing aura creep out and surround him like a dark, ominous cloud. "Which. Village?"

Mirajane shrank back, clutching the glass to her chest as if to ward off Gajeel's black aura. "Err…"

…

Shock sighed to herself as she twirled the neck of a bottle deftly between her fingers. She turned around to face the waiting bar customers with a fake smile plastered firmly on her face. She poured their drinks swiftly and sent them on their way, having no desire to engage in any unnecessary contact with strangers. The mere thought of having to actually _talk_ to them made her skin crawl.

But she needed the job, so she had to persevere.

Shock had decided that she needed to get away from the guild – and Gajeel – for a little while, to clear her head; to get some space to _think_. After the incident at the guild house… Shock shuddered. Maybe she wasn't helping as much as she thought she could have. What really got her right in the gut was what Gajeel had said before he left.

_I don't need anyone's acceptance – not the guilds', and certainly not yours!_

That one really stung.

They had been partners; surely her acceptance would have counted for something? _Especially_ after everything they had been through. Shock shook her head, pushing the bothersome thoughts to the back of her mind. She had thought they had had an understanding of each other. She guessed she was wrong. That was why Shock hated people; why she had stayed away from them for so long – they turned on you without the slightest warning. The relationship often wasn't worth the pain, from her limited experience.

And that was how she found herself in this dark, dingy hole-in-the-wall. She had been so desperate to get away from everyone – even Levi couldn't comfort her – that she had grabbed the first job she saw straight off the notice board and had packed her bags and left without even reading the damn thing until she was at the train station.

When she had seen that the actual job was a low-paying one in some far-off town on the edges of the province, she sighed in relief. Remote village equalled peace and quiet – something she didn't mind trading a high-paying job for. But then she'd seen what the job actually _entailed…_

Working as a barmaid had never really been one of her top career choices, even though she worked at Fairy Tail's bar quite regularly.

Sighing, Shock focused on neatening up the bottles on the shelf behind the counter. As undesirable as the job was, she was stuck there until she finished it. She thought it was funny – when she had been dreaming of life as a mage during her excruciating stay in the conscription camp, Shock had always thought of a mage's job as glorious and exciting, with a new thrill and adventure around every corner. She laughed to herself. And now here she was, cleaning beer glasses and dealing with unsavoury drunkards. Oh, the humanity.

"Hey! Barmaid!" Shock stiffened as the raucous call assailed her ears. "We wanna see a magic trick!"

She gritted her teeth and adjusted her far-too-short uniform, roughly tugging down the preposterously frilly skirt. She _hated_ skirts. The ever-present charm belt slung around her waist jangled slightly with the movement.

Taking a few deep breaths, she plastered a fake smile on her face once more and turned to face the expectant men wolf-whistling from the bar counter. As much as it irked her, it was unfortunately part of the job description – entertaining the non-magical folk of the town at the bar with whatever she could conjure up.

She thought it was a waste of effort and a mockery of magical skill, but the owner of the bar didn't care. He just wanted a show to rake in some money.

The men started cheering and clapping, urging her on with more whistles and jeers. She internally snarled, but forced herself to appear happy and accommodating. At that moment, she really wished Lucy was around to focus all the attention away from her – the blonde stellar mage seemed to just have that kind of magnetic personality that was _good_ with people.

Gritting her teeth behind her smile, Shock brought the first charm her fingers brushed across to her lips.

With some bitterness, she noted that it was the water charm… the very charm she had used on her first mission with _him_ – she thought it quite ironic, seeing as this was her first solo mission without her _partner_.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of her mind, Shock pressed the cool gem-laden charm to her lips and let the power ebb from its tiny surface into her body. She felt the cool rush of power through her veins and closed her eyes, relishing the feel of it for a moment. She registered dimly the various awe-struck noises made by her audience as the magic of the charm let her assume her associated appearance – blue hair, webbed fingers, flowing robes; the whole package. To her, it felt a damn sight better than her frilly, restricting barmaid's uniform.

She slowly opened her eyes again – and shifted uncomfortably as she realised that each and every person in the bar had their attention fixated on her. She wasn't used to this much attention, not at all.

Taking a deep breath, Shock tried to suppress the odd prickling sensation washing over her skin in waves – she couldn't let her nerves get the better of her at this stage. It would mean that she would fail the job, and that would give the guild a bad name. She wouldn't stand for Fairy Tail losing any shred of its reputation, especially not because of her.

Shock decided to start off with some simple little tricks that would hopefully keep the ignorant fools before her satisfied and wouldn't take up too much of her energy or magic. She focused on the glass of one of the nearest patrons and flicked her wrist lazily. The contents of the beer tumbler started to rise out of the glass, still retaining its shape as if frozen. She almost laughed at the half-terrified, half-amazed expression the owner of the glass wore.

Shock made the water float gently to the area directly in front of her, somewhere over the middle of the bar counter. Motioning both hands in precise, practiced movements, she split the liquid in half and flattened it so the alcohol spun in two razor-thin disks, one on top of the other. She went about her act with an air of cold efficiency, paying no attention to the awe-struck crowd. In her mind, they weren't even there – she didn't _want_ them to be there.

As she watched the disks floats in arcs, one over the other, she reflected on how much she had actually enjoyed her solitude before becoming involved with Fairy Tail. Make no mistake, she was happy that she had found Levy and joined the guild, but Shock couldn't help but think of how much simpler her life had been when she had been living with that old mage up in the mountains.

She absent-mindedly formed the cloudy beer into a flowing female figure and set it dancing over the polished counter.

There had been a simple routine back then, not much to think or worry about – get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, train for the rest of the day until the sun began its slow descent beyond the horizon. Now that she thought of it, there hadn't been much to Shock's life before, other than training. After the old mage had shown her the basics of how to use her charms, Shock had developed her skills on her own. She hadn't liked much human contact after her escape from the conscription camp, and the old woman had respected that. Training had been the only thing that set her mind at ease – it kept her occupied, didn't give her much time to think, to over-analyse.

Shock maintained control over the water-maiden with one hand while drawing more beer out of a few more unattended glasses nearby. She weaved the extra liquid into her dancer and internally rolled her eyes at the astounded gasps and cheers she received as the figure swelled and grew in size. Didn't these people realise that what she was doing was mere child's play?

This was another one of the reasons Shock wasn't a fan of people in general – aside from the ones she knew on a personal level.

They were ignorant. Ignorance led to discrimination. Discrimination led to ostracizing and violence. The one thing Shock abhorred more than people was violence. She had seen and experienced enough of it to last a lifetime.

Out of the corner of her eye, Shock noticed the door of the bar swinging open. Her eyes narrowed when she spotted the spiked hair of the figure that entered.

_How did…?_

She gritted her teeth and made her liquid dancer spin in a sort of pirouette. She glanced over at the newcomer and suppressed a scowl when she saw metallic studs glinting in the dim lamplight. Setting her mouth in a firm line, she tried to squash down the intense irritation she felt at seeing her partner in the gawking crowd. Hadn't she told Mirajane specifically not to give away her whereabouts?

An idea occurred to her, and Shock smirked. Why not take advantage of the situation for a tiny drop of payback? It wouldn't be much compared to the incident at the guild hall a week prior, but it would be something.

Making her dancer leap gracefully towards the crowd of people, she manoeuvred it gracefully over tables and chairs and made it ghost a watery hand over the cheeks of a few stunned customers for some added effect. After spotting her target near the back of the bar, Shock made the dancer leap over the last two or three tables in one long stride. It sailed over the heads of the non-magical customers and headed straight for the troublesome dragonslayer standing idly against a pillar.

With a flourish of her hands and an overly-dramatic bow to the crowd, Shock dropped her magical influence over the liquid dancer. As soon as the magic holding it together dispersed, the beer crashed down on Gajeel's head in a wave of frothy, cloudy rain.

As the crowd erupted in wild cheers and hoots of raucous laughter at the scowling, soaked man in black, Shock allowed her smirk to widen a fraction. She released the magic and reverted back to her normal appearance as the men went back to their idle chatter and discussion after the show.

Shock turned her back to the rest of the bar and continued with her previous duty of cleaning glasses and sorting out liquor bottles on the shelves behind the counter. Her keen ears picked out the sound of heavy – if not a little damp – footsteps marching towards the counter. She rolled her eyes as one of the bar stools squeaked under added weight.

"I thought I told Mirajane to instruct you to leave me _alone_," she grumbled, not bothering to turn and face what was sure to be the very irate face of her moody partner.

"Good to see you too, partner," Gajeel scoffed behind her.

Shock whipped around angrily. "_Partner_?" she spat the word out like something distasteful. "The last I checked, _partners _didn't completely disregard one another!"

"And last time _I_ checked, partners didn't play dirty tricks on one another!" he snapped back, shaking some of the foul-smelling beer from his soaked shirt.

Shock snorted disdainfully. "Don't act like you didn't deserve it."

"Look, about that-" he began, but Shock was far too livid to let him do any of the talking.

"What about it?" she growled, grabbing an unused glass and stuffing the rag she held deep into it. "Want to rant some more about what you do and don't need?"

She could see that struck a nerve, but her frustration continued to build when Shock saw Gajeel's face settle into that damn indifferent mask he always wore when he didn't want to deal with something. Did the man have no remorse? Not a shred of regret over the hurtful words he'd said?

"I came all the damn way here to apologise for that," he cast her an annoyed look. "But if you don't want to hear it…"

Shock nearly slammed the glass in her hand down on the counter. He sure as hell didn't sound apologetic to her, and if he was going to be sarcastic about the whole thing, then she didn't want to have to listen to him. "Keep your apology!" she hissed. "I don't _need_ it!"

Gajeel's expression hardened, as did his fists on the counter. Here he was, putting his own pride on the line to try and _apologise_, and she was throwing it all back in his face. Gajeel didn't appreciate being… _disregarded_, as Shock had so eloquently put it. And all this after the fact that she had publically humiliated him and he was even trying his best not to punch her from here back to the guild hall.

"You know, if you would just _listen_-" Gajeel bit out.

"Listen to what? Some half-baked apology that I know you don't mean because of your over-sized ego? I have better things to do," Shock muttered bitterly, turning her back on him.

Gajeel could feel his frustration mounting. Could the woman not shut up for five seconds? The sooner he got this damn apology over with, the sooner they could go back to the guild and get on with what they had been doing before. He'd never admit it, not even to himself, but Gajeel had really enjoyed those few missions he had been on with the Charm Mage.

But before he could even open his mouth to say something else, Shock countered him.

"Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it," she hissed, glaring at him from the corner of her eye.

Gajeel was slightly puzzled when he saw the underlying tone of hurt in her gaze. Had what he said really upset her that much? Hell, he would have simply brushed it off if it had been directed at him. With an oddly uncomfortable feeling in his gut, he realised that his harsh words had probably shaken whatever little faith Shock had built up in people since she had joined the guild. She had come out of her shell, made herself uncomfortably vulnerable in order to try and push past her doubts about interaction with other people. And there he had gone, shooting his mouth off and basically rendering her efforts null and void.

God, he really had screwed up this time, hadn't he?

"Shock…" he tried again with the apology route, frowning.

"Just… save it, Gajeel. I don't have the patience for this," Shock interrupted him again, shaking her head. Her tone was… tired. Weary.

Before he could say anything else, Shock untied the apron from her uniform and dropped it onto one of the lower shelves behind her. She turned abruptly and pushed past the door into the staff changing room behind the bar.

Gajeel scowled. So much effort over a stupid apology… Why were females so damn touchy all the time?

…

Shock really didn't have the stomach to listen to any lame excuses Gajeel had somehow managed to brew up about what he had said back at the guild house. It felt like it had happened so long ago, and yet she still felt scorned. It hurt to think that all her efforts, all the time she had spent trying to integrate Gajeel into a community she felt would lessen the self-imposed isolation and guilt that must have been weighing down on him… that all of it had been for _nothing_… it stung.

She frowned, literally ripping the frustratingly clingy uniform from her body. She needed to be out of the wretched thing – it felt like it was constricting her to the point where she couldn't breathe. She threw it to the ground angrily and just stood there, her shoulders shaking.

Had their partnership meant nothing at all?

Shock took a shaky breath, letting her head fall backwards slightly. She wasn't even sure why it was bothering her so much – if that event had happened maybe even six months prior, she knew that she would have merely brushed it off and continued with business as usual.

Was she getting too attached?

That was one thing that scared Shock; that shook her to her very core – the fact that letting people get too close to you; getting too attached to people, would make you vulnerable. One thing Shock had always reared herself against was being vulnerable. If you were vulnerable, you got hurt. It was one of the reasons why she had been so hesitant to open up to anyone when she first joined Fairy Tail – if you let people get too close to you, if you made yourself more vulnerable, the pain and hurt they could inflict would be infinitely worse than if they were just some passers-by on the street that you'd never see again.

And because of her upbringing in the camp, she had learned quickly that vulnerability often led very speedily to death.

Engaging with people on a personal level was something Shock still found extremely difficult. Maybe the reason she was so upset with Gajeel was because she had opened herself up too much; she had let her impregnable walls weaken, and she had paid dearly for it.

She wondered where her thick-skinned attitude had disappeared to, and if it would ever come back.

…

Gajeel had decided to wait for Shock outside the bar. She would have to come out and talk to him eventually. He knew her well enough to know that she'd never leave any sort of argument unfinished, even if she was on the losing end.

When he saw her hurriedly walking out of the side alley leading from the bar entrance to the street, he seized his chance. She was going to listen to what he had to say, even if he had to tie her down to make her listen. He didn't like the way things were going at the moment.

He grabbed Shock's arm, bringing her to a standstill. "Now, you're going to listen to what I have to say, even if you don't like it – I didn't come all the way out here to be ignored!"

She shot him a dirty look, but otherwise remained silent. Gajeel took this as a safe indication to continue without risk of major bodily harm.

Biting down his damnable pride, Gajeel swallowed. "I wasn't thinking straight when I said all that stuff, I guess I was just really pissed at that dumbass Droy…"

Shock regarded Gajeel as he sank into an uncomfortable silence, trying to search for the right words. She knew it must have been the hardest thing he'd ever attempted – saying an apology. Gajeel was the kind of man that was completely remorseless in his actions. Admitting he had been in the wrong was something completely out of character for him. Shock was slightly surprised. He must have really felt guilty for saying what he did.

She waited for him to continue, her expression carefully blank.

Gajeel stopped for a moment, his grip on Shock's arm lessening as he groped around in his mind for the right words – _any_ words – that would make it seem as though he could stomach apologising. Unfortunately, none were forthcoming.

Shock noted his clueless silence and decided to interject.

"I get that you were upset, but it didn't mean that you had to take it out on me," she mumbled, folding her arms and looking off to the side pointedly.

Gajeel glanced down at her before returning his gaze to the starless sky overhead. "Well it was kind of your fault that I was in the position in the first place," he replied gruffly.

As soon as the words were out his mouth, he realised they were the wrong ones to use in the situation.

Shock's expression morphed from slightly annoyed to absolutely livid in record time. "My fault?" her tone was quiet, but laced with a venomous undertone.

Gajeel thought for a split second about trying to explain himself, but then realised that it would just make matters worse. And, hang on a second… why should he have to explain himself? It was true, after all. It _was_ Shock's fault for dragging him along to that little get-together, almost like she was putting him on display or something – trying to show people what a good little mage he was.

"If you hadn't dragged me to meet all your _friends_, none of this would have happened," he continued, frowning. He was _not_ going to back down from that Charm Mage. He had come a long way to try and offer an apology, and she was throwing it back at him. Well, now it was his turn to go on the offensive.

"Well excuse me for trying to make your life a little bit easier," she snapped.

"Easier?" he retorted sharply. "All you did was parade me around like some pet! No one in the guild likes me, nor do I even need them to!"

"Why can't you understand that you don't have to isolate yourself from them all the time?" Shock growled, glaring at him.

Gajeel scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm not 'isolating' myself – I just don't need to depend on anyone!"

"Having a good relation with your fellow mages is not 'relying' on them, Gajeel!" Shock's tone turned exasperated. "What is it with you and this whole 'lone ranger' thing? Is your ego so inflated that you think yourself better than everyone else?"

Gajeel stiffened at that. His ego? Yes, it was true that he had thought himself superior while he was with Phantom Lord, but now that he was at Fairy Tail, his _ego_ had nothing to do with the equation – he knew for a fact that there were many other mages there that were on the same skill and power level as he was. And he also knew that Shock wasn't one of them. What right did she have, preaching to him?

"My 'ego' has absolutely nothing to do with this!" Gajeel ground out through gritted teeth.

"Then why act so high and mighty all the time?"

"Coming from you?" He pointed an accusatory finger at the smaller mage. "You're the one who likes going around pretending to be a social miracle worker!"

Shock clamped her jaw shut to stop it from hitting the ground. _Social miracle worker? _Is that what he thought about all her efforts to integrate him into the guild? That she was using this as a way of _glorifying_ herself? She was almost struck speechless by the audacity of it.

"I don't need to stand here and take this from you!" she spat, turning sharply on her heel and walking away from the dragonslayer.

"Oh no you don't!" Gajeel grabbed her elbow before she could get too far. "You're coming back to the guild with me, no more playing games!"

"I'm NOT going back with _you!_" Shock ripped her arm out of Gajeel's grip. He was taken aback for a second at the force with which she used. "You think you can just _waltz_ in here after everything you said to me and expect me to fall back in line like a good little girl? It doesn't work like that!"

"You're coming back to the guild one way or another!" Gajeel growled, clenching his fists.

"Oh, I'll go back alright," Shock started backing away from her 'partner', her tone seething and her eyes slitted, "but certainly not with _you!_"

Before Gajeel could take a step towards her, or even say another word, Shock snatched her shadow charm from her belt and ran it over her bottom lip. In another second, she was gone.

**Once again, sorry for the long wait between updates ^^**

**I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up (I'm back at school again, and it's exams), but as soon as it's ready it'll be up :D**

**Thanks for all the support!**


	11. This Is War

**No, I'm not dead -_-'**

**I apologise profusely for my lack of updates over the past few months, there has just been so much going on in my life that I haven't even had time to think for myself :/**

**This chapter is pretty short, but I felt that I owed it to all of you waiting for an update to post something, no matter how small :D the next chapter will be much longer, the usual length :)**

**As for now, enjoy reading! :D And another thanks to my awesome Beta for being so patient with me and hammering out the errors :)**

**TwilightMelodiac**** – The update is here :D**

**HichiShirosaki**** – really sorry for making you wait so long ;3;**

**Zororenjilover**** – unfortunately, this time the wait kind of **_**was**_** forever ^^' I can honestly never see Gajeel doing something even slightly remorseful, he just doesn't seem like the kind of person to regret anything XD**

**Deirim**** – Thanks for the understanding ^^ Yes, Shock and Gajeel definitely have some MAJOR issues they need to work through ;v;**

**11. This Is War (Nickelback)**

**Climb into the ring for a battle that you can't win**

**Swing as hard as you can swing, it will still mean nothing**

**Should've seen it coming**

**It had to happen sometime**

**But you went and brought a knife**

**To an all out gun fight**

**And the only thing to save**

**Is the banner that you wave**

**To be wrapped around your grave**

**You've gone too far**

**(get up, get up)**

**Who do you think you are**

**(get up so we can finish this)**

**Is this what you came for**

**(get up, get up)**

**Well this means war**

**(get up so we can finish this)**

**Say anything you want**

**But talk will get you nowhere**

**The only thing you've brought was psychological warfare**

**Well there's no getting out**

**And now you got to wonder**

**Who will dig you out when you're six feet under**

**And the only thing to save**

**Is the banner that you wave**

**To be wrapped around your grave**

**You've gone too far**

**(get up, get up)**

**Who do you think you are**

**(get up so we can finish this)**

**Is this what you came for**

**(get up, get up)**

**Well this means war**

**(get up so we can finish this)**

**And the only thing to save**

**Is the banner that you wave**

**To be wrapped around your grave**

**You've gone too far**

**(get up, get up)**

**Who do you think you are**

**(get up so we can finish this)**

**Is this what you came for**

**(get up, get up)**

**Well this means war**

**(get up so we can finish this)**

**Well this means war**

Shock kept true to her word – Gajeel confirmed, by way of a few rather reluctant inn keepers and a bar manager, that Shock had indeed left for Magnolia on her own.

Needless to say, the dragonslayer was furious – in his opinion, Shock was being an overly-sensitive, childish brat. He had no time for brats. When he finally caught up with her, he was going to give her a rather large piece of his mind. He was going to show her why he was feared for his temper; put the girl back in her place.

Not that he didn't like her fiery temper – it made working with Shock all the more entertaining. But he didn't appreciate it when he was on the receiving end of her wrath. It annoyed him to think that someone was under the impression that they could walk all over him with no repercussions.

Gajeel had a few hours to mull over his attack plan before he was back in Magnolia with the guild house in sight. With his face set in a scowl – maybe with a tiny bit more of an angry undertone than usual – Gajeel marched into the guild hall with his fists clenched and temper boiling. He planned to find Shock and give her a what-for before storming off and waiting for her to run after him with a few dozen apologies lined up. At least, that's what he assumed she would do.

But as he approached the bar counter, ignoring the other members of the guild scattered around at the various tables, he realised that there was a major hole in his plan. Shock was nowhere to be seen. Again.

He growled in frustration and stalked towards Levy at the far end of the bar counter. He figured the best person to tell him where Shock was without a fuss was Levy – the two of them were damn well joined at the hip. And if Shock was holed up in her room back at the hostels, Levy would be the ideal person to fish her out again.

Gajeel leaned against the counter, his shadow falling ominously over the much-smaller Shadow Gear member. She paused from her task of sorting a few bottles beneath the counter and slowly looked up at the furious dragonslayer towering over her. She swallowed nervously – as much as she had come to forgive Gajeel over the past few months for his past misdeeds, when he acted like the Devil himself it tended to bring back unpleasant memories of her initial experiences with him.

"Can I help you?" she asked quietly, holding back the quiver in her voice.

Gajeel was irritated – he knew seeing Levy cower before him should have made him feel better in the current situation like it always did, but now all he felt was a sharp pang of annoyance at her fear. Maybe Shock had finally gotten through to him on some level about the other guild members being comrades rather than human punching bags. Maybe he was getting tired of being feared all the time. His mouth twisted in a snarl as he glared down at the younger mage, pushing the scandalous notion to the back of his mind.

"Where's that damn friend of yours?" he growled menacingly.

"W-who? Shock?" the blue-haired girl looked confused. "I don't know, I haven't seen her all day. Isn't she still on a job?"

Gajeel clenched his teeth, biting back a few choice words. "She left that dingy hole before me, she should be back already."

"I really don't know where she is," Levy apologised, swallowing down the lump in her throat once again. Her forehead creased with a sudden wave of worry. It was unlike Shock to not come by the guild hall after returning from a mission.

The dark-haired dragonslayer on the other side of the counter let out a sharp sigh and turned, scanning the rest of the guild hall for any sign of his wayward partner. The fact that Levy had no clue where she was unsettled him a bit. Those two were inseparable – it was almost impossible for the one not to know where the other was at any given time.

There was the sudden sound of hurried footsteps thumping along the second floor of the guild hall. Erza came into view and leaned over the balcony, her eyes scanning the hall below. She frowned, her eyes landing on Levy.

"Levy, are all the S-ranked mages back at the guild?" the red-headed mage asked. Gajeel frowned at the hint of urgency in her tone. Erza was clearly worried about something – and he had a sinking feeling he knew it had something to do with Shock.

Levy quickly looked around the tables and then back up to Erza. "Yeah, they're all here. Why?"

Erza swore under her breath, slamming a hand down angrily on the wooden banister. A few mages looked up from their conversation to see what the ruckus was about.

"Erza?" Levy started forwards, her stomach sinking. "What's the matter?"

"One of the S-rank missions is missing from the board," Erza ground out between clenched teeth.

There were a few collective gasps from the floor. If all the top mages in the guild were in the bar and a mission was missing, it meant a lesser-skilled mage had taken it. Realization suddenly dawned on Gajeel, and he froze for an instant before biting out a few choice curse words and bolting for the door.

The fool of a partner of his was going to get herself killed!

…

Shock crested the hill just outside of the town described in the sheet of paper clutched in her hand. It hadn't been all that hard to get an S-ranked mission off the second floor with the help of her Shadow charm. It gave her a small sense of accomplishment when she remembered how she had walked straight past Erza with the sheet in her hand. Her smile of victory faded to a scowl when she thought of the other S-ranked mage she knew – her partner would no doubt be furious with her for taking on a mission aboveher level, but she was sick and tired of his assumptions about her skill.

She would show Gajeel once and for all how strong she actually was, even if it took an S-rank mission to prove it.

**Once again, really really sorry for the length of this chapter and the long wait – and I can't even say for sure when I'll have time for the next chapter ;v;**

**I just urge you awesome fans and readers to be patient and bear with me until things are normal again 3**


	12. Devil On My Shoulder

**Apologies apologies apologies apologies apologies ;n; **

**Mentalbreakdownexamsstresspi llsawholelotofbullshit anyway, next chapter has finally arrived!**

**Many many thanks to my amazing Beta Aikoyu Saotome, you rock my socks ;3;**

**Deirim**** – I know, it was terribly short, I'm sorry ;w; this one is nearly three times the length, hope it makes up for it ;3;**

**Kaito – thank you so much, all of that sounds too good *3* so so so sorry this update is late as well, hope you haven't lost faith yet ;w;**

**Synk**** – they're both pretty stubborn, makes things pretty interesting sometimes when I have to figure out how they interact with each other lol XD**

**11. Devil On My Shoulder (Billy Talent)**

**As I get closer, my dreams get farther  
>I climb that ladder, but you kick it over<br>Thirsty for water, you give me vinegar  
>When I drink your medicine, it just makes me sicker<strong>

**I dug a hole so deep**  
><strong>I'm gonna drown in my mistakes<strong>  
><strong>Can't even sell my soul<strong>  
><strong>'Cause it ain't worth shit to take<strong>

**I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)**  
><strong>And I just can't sink any lower (lower and lower)<strong>  
><strong>The hounds of hell are getting closer (closer and closer)<strong>  
><strong>I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)<strong>

**Follow the rainbow, my lucky omen**  
><strong>There ain't no pot of gold, just copper tokens<strong>  
><strong>I found the key to life, the lock was broken<strong>  
><strong>All my accomplishments, are best left unspoken<strong>

**I dug a hole so deep**  
><strong>I'm gonna drown in my mistakes<strong>  
><strong>Can't even sell my soul<strong>  
><strong>'Cause it ain't worth shit to take<strong>

**I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)**  
><strong>And I just can't sink any lower (lower and lower)<strong>  
><strong>The hounds of hell are getting closer (closer and closer)<strong>  
><strong>I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)<strong>

**My horror story is nearly over**  
><strong>I said I'm sorry, but I was sober<strong>  
><strong>I beg for mercy from my infernal friend<strong>  
><strong>The one that drops the nails into my coffin<strong>

**I got the devil on my shoulder**  
><strong>I got the devil on my shoulder<strong>

**I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)**  
><strong>And I just can't sink any lower (lower and lower)<strong>  
><strong>They come to take me, take me over (closer and closer)<strong>  
><strong>I got the devil on my shoulder (over and over)<strong>

"Gajeel! Will you slow down? Where are you going?"

Gajeel ignored the worried shouts of his former Phantom Lord guild-mate, bashing through the bustling crowds milling around the streets leading away from the guild house. Juvia gave an exasperated sigh and picked her way over the dazed people left in his wake. The man was charging ahead at full speed like he was possessed or something. They had already reached the outskirts of Magnolia before she finally got him to slow down just long enough for her to catch his attention.

The blue-haired mage planted herself firmly in front of her former guild-mate, hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Gajeel looked ready to murder her if she didn't move, but Juvia stood her ground.

"Juvia is not moving until Gajeel tells her what the matter is!" she snapped. "Gajeel-sama never acts this way!"

"Juvia, get out of the way!" Gajeel growled threateningly, his glare boring into her. He was in no mood to discuss his motives with nosy people – he had to find his idiot of a partner before she did something stupid and got herself killed.

"Juvia is concerned!" she retorted. "Whatever it is, Juvia can help!"

Seeing that the stubborn mage wasn't going to let him get anywhere anytime soon, Gajeel relented. Clenching his teeth and hoping he wouldn't regret letting her tag along, he ground out, "If you want to help, you'd better not slow me down."

…

Shock had barely made it into the outskirts of the town, and she could already sense that something was gravely wrong. The town was deathly quiet – not a single soul stirred in the cobbled streets, all of the windows were fastened shut and doors locked. It was approaching dusk in the town, and the only sign that it was actually inhabited was the dim flickering of candles in a few dusty windows. Shock's booted footsteps echoed loudly between the wooden buildings as she tried to find someone – anyone – who could explain the mission sheet she had clutched in her hand.

Pausing under a flickering street light, Shock read over the job sheet one more time in the fading light. A slight chill was starting to creep into the air, and she shivered involuntarily. She was used to the cold – her years in the frigid conscription camp had seen to that – but this was a different type of chill. It had an ominous feel to it, a kind of chill that seeped into your very bones and froze you from the inside out. Pushing the uncomfortable sensation to the back of her mind, Shock turned her attention back to the crumpled sheet in her clammy grip.

It was no wonder why this particular job had been on the S-class notice board – the bounty for it was astronomical. Shock was sure if she could pull it off, she'd be living like a queen for months. Maybe she could even move out of the boarding house and find a small place of her own, where she could train with her charms in peace.

Her eyes scanned the page for any clue of what she was meant to be doing, but all that was printed on it were the town name, bounty, and an extremely brief description of the problem.

_Demon infestation _.

Shock swallowed down the pang of unease rising up from the pit of her stomach. She had faced far worse adversaries than a few measly demons. At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Shock caught her resolve weakening and mentally slapped herself. There was a purpose to her being here. She had taken an S-ranked mission for a reason. She sure as hell wasn't going to act like a coward and back out now. She had something to prove, and she was damn well going to prove it. She would show Gajeel – and anyone else who doubted her – that she was as strong as any of the S-class mages. As strong as Gajeel. Maybe even stronger. _Then_ they would see who needed the acceptance – her or her knuckle-headed partner.

That's if they were even still partners.

Shock grimaced. She grudgingly admitted to herself that her reaction may have been a tad over the top when Gajeel had even come all the way from Magnolia to offer some form of an apology. The fact he had felt the need to show any sort of repentance should have counted for something – but she had been too hurt and angry, too blinded by her own feelings of rejection, to acknowledge it. She would completely understand if he never wanted to work with her again when she got back.

But she had to appease her own feelings of inadequacy and complete the job before she even thought about going back to the guild. Gajeel's words – although rash and harsh, and admittedly unnecessary – had struck deep. They were like a thorn Shock was having a hard time dislodging from her side. And only the satisfaction of knowing she had completed a mission far above her rank would help get rid of it.

Taking a deep breath, Shock folded the job sheet and slipped it into the pocket of her cargo pants. She looked around, noting that it was already twilight and she had yet to contact anyone who could help explain the mission. She forced herself to move to the nearest doorway with a candle burning in the window. There had to be someone who knew what was going on; who knew why the town was near deserted.

She rapped on the door. No one answered. Shock knocked again and stood on the damp porch for another ten minutes, and still no one came to see what the ruckus was about. She peered in through the dusty window but the curtains were drawn. The candle light was muted through the flimsy material, and there were no shadows flickering in the light to indicate that anyone was even home.

Frowning, Shock retreated from the apparently deserted town and stepped back out into the street. The light was fading fast, the dim glow of the street lamps only just barely providing enough for Shock to see where she was going.

"Hello?" she called uncertainly. Her voice echoed between the silent buildings, making it sound empty and hollow.

Still, no one answered.

Uneasiness mounting, she decided it would be her best bet to find a tavern or something – there were bound to be people in there. And if not, at least it was some place she could go to escape the heavy chill settling in around her. She didn't know what was making her so uneasy, but she knew for sure that she didn't want to be caught out in the open when night set in.

Shock steadily found herself drawing more and more on her repressed training techniques to keep calm and level headed when door after door appeared locked and barred. Not a single public gathering place seemed to exist in town. Maybe there was no public left to gather.

…

"Excuse Juvia's bluntness, but Gajeel-sama is an idiot."

Gajeel shot the blue-haired mage beside him a venomous glare. They may have been former team mates at Phantom Lord, but that wouldn't stop him shutting her mouth forcefully for her if she carried on with herberating. He was worried enough about that stupid little charm mage without Juvia having to constantly remind him what an ass he had been about it.

Yeah, he was worried about Shock. It was a completely foreign emotion to Gajeel, one he definitely didn't like and didn't want to keep around, but it was definitely there. He frowned. She had managed to grow on him, like an annoying kind of fungus or something.

"Thanks for the news flash," he growled sarcastically. "Tell me something I didn't know." He wished the hired carriage they were in would move faster**. **Knowing Shock, she had probably managed to get herself into a whole heap of shit already, and the carriage was taking far too long to get anywhere.

"Juvia thinks the Shock-sama was right about you," she sighed, reclining against the seat. Her hands twisted absent-mindedly in her lap.

"About what, exactly?" Gajeel huffed, rolling his eyes as he glanced out the window. Night was rapidly approaching. Strange shadow-like smudges flitted in and out of the trees. Gajeel's feeling of unease increased, as did his frustration with their mode of transport.

"Gajeel-sama needs to learn how to open up more, and stop being so antisocial," Juvia replied, looking out of the opposite window. Her tone wasn't commanding or anything of the sort. It was more matter-of-fact, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Gajeel-sama can't carry on living alone. It won't make you happy."

"Who needs happiness?" Gajeel scoffed. "It's overrated. Unnecessary."

"Everyone needs some happiness," she countered. "It's what keeps people going when they have nothing else. Everyone has something that makes them happy."

"Is that so?" sarcasm managed to drip from every syllable leaving the dragonslayer's mouth. He wasn't one to discuss trivial things like _emotions_ with anyone, especially someone like Juvia, who hardly knew him.

Not like many people actually knew him in the first place. The only one who even came close to that description was Makarov. And, the more Gajeel thought about it, Shock.

Juvia snorted dismissively at Gajeel's tone. "Gray-sama makes Juvia happy. And Juvia thinks the little Charm mage makes Gajeel-sama happy, as much as he will deny it."

…

Shock gripped her Light charm tightly in her hand as she wandered through the seemingly deserted town. If there ever appeared to be some life in this place, it sure was gone now – not a single candle burned in a window and the only light was cast from the pale sliver of the moon overhead. Not even the streetlamps in this part of the town were lit. Apprehension formed a tight ball in the pit of her stomach and she began jumping at every noise. The whistle of the wind through the silent houses, the rustling of rats in the gutters… at least, Shock _hoped_ they were rats.

Shock forced herself to calm down and think rationally. If she could just find some place to stay for the night, she would stay put and wait until it was light enough for her to get out of this ghost town and back to Magnolia. She'd dispose of the job sheet and claim she'd never seen it – who knew, maybe it was old and out dated, and maybe that was why the town seemed completely deserted. Shock gulped nervously. Maybe the demons had cleared the town out before anyone had come to help. If that was the case, then Shock just hoped they had moved on and weren't still lingering around, waiting for her.

There was a rustle behind her and she whipped around to face the source of the noise... butthere was nothing there but an empty street. Behind her, shadows flitted between buildings. Eyes widened and heart hammering, Shock slowly turned back around and resumed her walk. Her grip on Light tightened exponentially. Every whistle of the wind seemed a hundred times louder, every rustle sounded like the shuffling footsteps of some grotesque monster creeping around in the shadows.

A chirping noise sounded somewhere off to Shock's right and she jumped about a foot in the air. Heart hammering in her throat, she whirled around in a tight circle in a vain attempt to see what had made the sound. All that greeted her saucer-wide eyes was inky black darkness, thick and impenetrable. Something glinted in a dark alleyway between two dishevelled buildings, catching Shock's eye. She stopped moving and peered cautiously into the shadows, trying to make out whatever it was that had caught her attention. The chirping noise came again, making the charm mage's skin crawl uncomfortably. Her stomach twisted in a tight knot of dread, her palms clammy. Bitter fear clawed its way up her throat, and Shock fought to shove it down again.

Out of the darkness, a pair of blood red eyes materialized.

Shock's breath caught in her throat. She froze as the eyes blinked lazily. They focused on her with a hungry intensity that made her skin blaze with white-hot fear. The chirping sound morphed to a low, gutteral growl.

Another set of eyes appeared in the darkness, reflecting the silvery glow of the moon. Another pair opened, and then another, and another, until Shock was surrounded by glittering ruby orbs. The growls and chirps came together in a terrible cacophony, surrounding her like a wall of pulsating sound. Shock tried to swallow, but all the moisture had evaporated from her mouth. Fighting down the waves of panic threatening to consume her, she slowly brought Light to her lips.

As if willing it to give her all of its strength, Shock held the glittering charm to her mouth, drawing on its untamed power. She was immediately surrounded in a glowing halo of light, eradicating any traces of darkness from her immediate vicinity. The red-eyed creatures hissed and shied away from the blinding light, seeking refuge around corners and in sheltered, decrepit doorways.

As suddenly as it had come, the light vanished, leaving a transformed Shock in its wake. Her hair hung in white-blonde waves down to her shoulders, polished silver armour covered her white-robed figure. A pair of snow-white feathered wings stretched in a wide arc from her shoulders, glowing softly. The pale light emanating from Shock's transformed state illuminated the street and buildings around her – but when she saw what lay waiting there, she wished it hadn't.

Grotesque, bony, deformed bodies. Leathery, scarred, pock-marked skin. Elongated skulls bristling with horns and teeth. Razor-sharp claws tipping knobbly, disjointed fingers. Blood-red eyes, shining with an insatiable lust for death and destruction. It took all of Shock's will and self-control not to scream.

The demons surrounded her on all sides, the horde stretching so far down the street that they disappeared back into the oily shadows.

"You have got to be kidding me," she breathed.

…

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Gajeel cast a sceptical look over the dark, deserted town. A few scattered streetlamps led down the overgrown path towards the town gates.

"Juvia is very sure. This is exactly where Erza-sama pointed to on the map," Juvia shrugged, adjusting her hat as she started down the pathway.

Gajeel grumbled something under his breath and followed her. Erza had better be damn right about this place – they couldn't afford any setbacks at this stage. Who knew what kind of mess Shock had managed to get herself into by now?

The chirping of the crickets carried miles through the still night air. At least, Gajeel thought they were crickets. The sound was a little too loud and high pitched for insects. But when the chirping changed pitch to a low, reverberating growl, Gajeel knew there were definitely no crickets hiding in the long grass. He swore loudly and began sprinting towards the town, Juvia hot on his heels.

…

Shock brought her Light blade in a wide arc around her head, lopping off the limbs of another four demons who had made the mistake of venturing too close. The bodies of their fallen were steadily piling up around the glowing charm mage, but still the demons kept coming. It was like a never-ending sea of pitch black skin and blood-stained eyes.

Her once-white robes were splattered and stained with whatever tar-like substance coursed through the demons' veins. She had made the mistake of letting it touch her skin a few times, and now had angry red burns wherever the vile substance had splashed.

A demon vaulted off a wall to her left, aiming straight for Shock's head with obsidian talons outstretched. Kicking another leathery foe viciously in the jaw and shoving its limp form away from her, Shock just barely had time to block the creature's claw with her sword. A shower of sparks resulted from the impact, making the surrounding demons hiss and shrink back. Snarling, the creature jumped back nimbly from Shock's spinning blade, melting back into the seething crowd of its brethren to try an attack from another angle.

Shock's breath came in short, laboured pants. No matter how many of the demons she slew, ten more seemed to spring up from the shadows for every one she killed. Her arms were beginning to ache, and her blade felt heavier and heavier with every blow she landed. Her chest burned and her throat was raw, the skin of her hands and arms seared and burning from the noxious demon blood. All she could hear were the guttural snarls and shrieks of the creatures surrounding her. All she could see was an ocean of shining red eyes and glinting talons. She wanted to scream in frustration; scream for help.

But she knew no one would be around to hear her.

Not for the first time that night, Shock cursed her temper and irrationality. She cursed her stubbornness, her cockiness at thinking she could take on an S-ranked mission by herself. She had been in Fairy Tail for what, six months? Maybe more, maybe less? She had barely even trained since joining the guild. The jobs she had been taking were menial – nothing to do with combat. And if there had been any element of combat, Gajeel had always been there to help her out. He had always been there to watch her back.

She cursed herself again. She had been so _stupid_.

As much of a callous ass as he was, Gajeel had always supported her in some warped way. Even his constant belittling and taunting served as an incentive for her to train harder, to get stronger. That was all Shock had ever wanted – to get stronger. And since she had teamed up with Gajeel, she had felt as though she definitely could get stronger. If not just to shut him up and prove a point, anyway.

Lost in the bitter torrent of her thoughts, Shock let her guard slip for the slightest of moments. That was all an attacking demon needed – it launched itself at her from deep within the snarling mass of the horde and knocked her sword from her grip. Shock yelped in surprise, flailing wildly for her weapon as she was knocked forcefully into the side of a building. The sword clattered to the cobblestones at her feet, just within stretching distance. But Shock was in no position to retrieve it.

The attacking demon had her pinned to the splintering wooden wall, clawed hands tearing into the wood on either side of her head as its gaping maw snapped at her throat. Shock was only just managing to keep it from sinking its multitude of oversized fangs into her trachea, her small hands wrapped around its much larger neck. She could feel the tendons tense and stretch beneath its skin as the demon made lunge after lunge at Shock's throat, coming a little bit closer each time as her strength began to wane.

The other demons saw this as an opportunity to wage an attack of their own, nipping at her legs and midriff while her hands were otherwise occupied.

A particularly zealous demon took a slash at her thigh with its razor-sharp claws, tearing through the fabric of her robe and slicing clean through the chainmail beneath it. Shock swallowed a scream of pain as the knife-like appendages ripped through her flesh in a jagged line. The scent of her blood drove the rest of the horde wild.

Dismay sat like a lead weight on Shock's chest as her strength faded. She was just barely managing to keep the demon at her throat from ripping it out, and the horde was howling and shrieking all around her, deafening her with their manic screeches. They sensed that their prey was weakening.

_This is it_.

The single thought repeated itself over and over again in Shock's head. She greeted it numbly.

_This is the night I die._

Shock kicked out with her one good leg, managing to weakly deflect the claws of another eager demon. She slouched a little against the wall, her arms burning with the strain of keeping the creature on her chest at bay. She was beginning to feel light headed from loss of blood, the wound on her thigh throbbing painfully. Her vision began to blur.

_I just… I just wish…_

The demon pinning Shock to the wall dragged out clawed hand out of the wood and sunk its talons into her shoulder. Shock screamed.

_That I'd have__been able to say sorry…_

The creature on her chest roared in her ear, making Shock's head spin. Gritting her teeth, she used the last of her strength to shove the demon off her. Not expecting the sudden force, the creature fell back into the writhing horde. Shock managed to snatch her sword back up from the cobblestones, levelling it shakily at the demon horde before her.

_Levy…_

Another demon swatted at her from the right. Shock slashed at it, managing to cut its disjointed fingers off. The demon howled in pain, shrinking back.

_Gajeel…_

Another demon raked its claws down Shock's midriff through the chinks in her armour, eliciting another shriek from her.

_I'm sorry._

Shock dropped to one knee, teeth gritted against the pain of her injuries. Her breath hissed out between her clenched teeth as she glared up at the approaching demons. They were moving slowly; moving in for the kill. The hissing and shrieking intensified to an unbearable din. Shock screwed her eyes shut and looked away.

But the claws and teeth and death never came.

The tone of the shrieks changed from threatening to petrified in a second. Shock's eyes snapped open just in time to see a whole group of demons hurtle through the air, landing somewhere down the road in a broken heap. The rest of the horde's attention snapped to the new threat, Shock immediately forgotten. Yowling and screeching like banshees, the demons threw themselves at whatever was attacking them from the other end of the cobbled street. From her position against the wall, Shock couldn't see what was around the corner.

The demons suddenly came flooding back down the road, away from whatever it was they had attacked, chittering and shrieking in fear. A low rumbling sound filled the air, drowning out the panicked noises from the demon horde. The rumbling intensified until the very ground became to shake, jarring Shock's aching bones where she lay slumped against the splintering wooden wall.

Shock pushed herself weakly against the wall, as far out of the road as she could go, shielding herself from whatever had caused the demons to flee in such a state. If it had the horde on the run, it couldn't be good.

The rumbling and shaking got more and more forceful as the demons continued streaming down the street. A second later, a hurricane of molten metal hurtled after them, obliterating any shadowy creatures in its wake. The roar of the attack was deafening, and Shock curled herself into as small a ball as she could to shield herself from the force of it as it rushed past her.

And a second later, it was over. Blood pounded in Shock's ears, her head still spinning from a combination of blood loss and the blast. The silence that followed was almost as deafening as the blast itself. None of the demon horde remained.

As Shock's strength continued to seep away, the Light charm took its magic back, leaving her vulnerable and defenceless in the dark. Her breathing became shallower and shallower, and through the rushing of blood in her ears, she could hear the dim thud of footsteps. She could also hear someone shouting, but the voice was muted and she couldn't make out any of the words.

Through her dimming vision, Shock could just make out two blurred figure silhouetted against the light of what looked like a floating orb following behind them. The figures drew nearer, and everything faded to black.

…

The first thing Shock became aware of when she regained consciousness with the soft mattress beneath her. The next thing she noticed was the feeling of warm sunlight on her face. She scrunched her nose up, screwing her eyes against the glare of the sun. She tried to move, but her muscles screamed in protest. She groaned, her throat raw. She felt weary down to her very bones. As her mind became more aware of her surroundings, uneasiness became to sit heavily in the pit of her stomach. Bits of prior events started filtering back in scattered pieces. The last thing she remembered was lying in a dark alley, surrounded by a ravenous demon horde… now she was lying in a soft bed, and it was daylight… it wasn't adding up. Then again, nothing much was adding up in her sleep-addled brain.

Cracking an eye open, Shock hissed as bright sunlight almost blinded her. She moved a hand slowly towards her face to block out the harsh light, biting back a few choice words at the pain following such a simple movement.

"You're a fucking idiot, you know that?"

Shock's first reaction to the gruff, familiar voice was relief. Maybe even a little bit of joy. But as soon as the feelings came, they were eclipsed by a set of much more negative emotions – shame, anger, but most of all, an overwhelming sense of guilt. Shock was surprised Gajeel had even waited around until she regained consciousness.

He took her silence as a cue to continue his lambasting.

"I don't know what the fuck you were thinking, taking on an S-ranked mission. What the hell made you think you were even remotely strong enough for something like that?" Shock could hear the intense irritation and disbelief in his voice. She stayed facing the window. She couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"Do you have any idea how worried Levy was about your stupid ass?" Shock's guilt trebled when she heard the unvoiced question – _Do you have any idea how worried I was?_

As slowly and carefully as she could, Shock managed to push herself up into a sitting position. Every muscle shrieked in protest, every wound groaned and stretched in agony. Her head spun and her vision swam. But she was alive. Shock kept her eyes downcast as she leaned against the wall at the head of the bed she lay on. The blanket that had been covering her pooled around her waist, revealing the miles of bandages wound around her petite frame. Her face flared at the thought that someone had actually treated and dressed her wounds.

"You should thank Juvia for that. If it had been up to me, I would have let you suffer a bit more. Would have served you right."

As guilty and ashamed as Shock felt, her temper flared. "You should hardly be acting like the wounded party here," she snapped, her voice coming out as a hoarse croak.

"What, were you expecting some sympathy just because you got a little beat up?" Gajeel sneered. Shock whipped her head in his direction, immediately regretting the sudden movement as her vision swam.

She leaned heavily against the wall, fighting the dizziness. "I'm not expecting any sympathy from _you_, of all people," she growled, glaring at the dragonslayer.

He sat slouched in an armchair on the other end of the small room, elbows propped up against the armrests and legs stretched out infront of him. "What's that supposed to mean, pipsqueak?"

Shock inwardly flinched at the coldness in his tone, but her expression didn't falter. She avtered her eyes though, focusing instead on her battle-scarred hands lying in her lap. "Why would you even care where I ended up? I would have thought you would be glad to be rid of me," she said bitterly.

"Don't be stupid," Gajeel snorted. "You're my partner, you're kind of stuck with me until I say otherwise."

Shock's head snapped up towards Gajeel again at the unexpected comment. She was at a loss for words. Gajeel was never usually this… _forgiving_, if she could put it that way.

Shock slouched against the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She rested her chin on them and stared down at the sheets. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Gajeel scoffed, pushing himself out of the chair. "Don't go soft on me now, pipsqueak. That ain't like you."

Shock snorted, rolling her eyes. "One of us has to suck it up with an apology, and I think we've already established that apologies aren't your thing."

"Don't need any damn apologies," the dragonslayer sauntered casually over to the widow, leaning against the sill as he looked outside. "You've got nothing to be sorry for."

Shock paused, her mouth half open for a rebuttal. She thought that was the closest Gajeel had come to an actual apology. She wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Shock allowed the smallest of smiles to curve her mouth.

Out of the corner of his eye Gajeel caught sight of her expression and scowled. All this sappy stuff wasn't sitting well with him and he didn't need his knucklehead of a partner gloating over it to boot.

"I still think you're a bloody idiot for sneaking off with a job like that," he growled, folding his arms.

Shock's expression soured and he smirked. He was much more comfortable with antagonizing her - it added some spice to life.

"Tiny little thing like you, you're just lucky Juvia and I managed to find you before those demons had a midnight snack," he sniggered, pushing himself away from the window.

"I don't have to sit here and take this from you, you pompous ass," Shock seethed, throwing the covers off and climbing unsteadily to her feet. She wobbled a bit, still a bit woozy from blood loss.

Shock yelped when her bad leg decided to give out on her, and would have crashed to the floor had Gajeel not caught her. But instead of depositing her back on the bed, he wrapped his arms around her and tucked her under his chin.

Taking advantage of her shocked silence, Gajeel muttered, "Yeah, I'm an ass – but you're stuck with me."

**Sorry if the last bit was a little OOC, but I've gotta try weave this stuff in somewhere… hope it's not bad ;n;**

**Anyway, I'd really like to hear what you guys thought, and thanks to everyone who puts up with my inconsistent updates – you guys really make me so happy, all of you ;3;**


	13. It's Time

Please, for the love of all that is holy, listen to this band.

**Synk - Thank you! And I certainly wouldn't mind seeing it myself either ^^**

**Aikoyu Saotome - I still really appreciate all of the time you take to help me with this, gives me a confidence boost before I put it out the ^^; and thank you so much ;3;**

**indescribable music - I'm very much alive, and I intend to stay that way XD Thanks! I'm glad you do ^^**

**13. It's Time (Imagine Dragons)**

**So this is what you meant**

**When you said that you were spent**

**And now it's time to build from the bottom of the pit**

**Right to the top**

**Don't hold back**

**Packing my bags and giving the academy a rain check**

**I don't ever want to let you down**

**I don't ever want to leave this town**

**Cause after all**

**The city never sleeps at night**

**It's time to begin, isn't it?**

**I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit**

**I'm just the same as I was**

**Now don't you understand**

**That I'm never changing who I am**

**So this is where you fell**

**And I am left to sell**

**The path to heaven runs through miles of clouded hell**

**Right to the top**

**Don't look back**

**Turning to rags and giving the commodities a rain check**

**I don't ever want to let you down**

**I don't ever want to leave this town**

**Cause after all**

**The city never sleeps at night**

**It's time to begin, isn't it?**

**I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit**

**I'm just the same as I was**

**Now don't you understand**

**That I'm never changing who I am**

**It's time to begin, isn't it?**

**I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit**

**I'm just the same as I was**

**Now don't you understand**

**That I'm never changing who I am**

**This road never looked so lonely**

**This house doesn't burn down slowly**

**To ashes, to ashes**

**It's time to begin, isn't it?**

**I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit**

**I'm just the same as I was**

**Now don't you understand**

**That I'm never changing who I am**

**It's time to begin, isn't it?**

**I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit**

**I'm just the same as I was**

**Now don't you understand**

**That I'm never changing who I am**

"You don't have time for breaks, pipsqueak! This is serious business."

Bent almost double with her hands on her knees, Shock glared up at her partner menacingly. Her chest heaved and her sides ached from exertion. Perspiration dripped from her chin, and she wiped it out of her eyes irritably. She felt as though her legs were about to give out on her, but she knew if she dropped to even one knee, Gajeel would be hauling her back to her feet in an instant.

She and Gajeel had been training from sunrise to sunset for the past two weeks straight, ever since he had brought her back from her failed solo mission. Makarov and Erza were still furious with her, and training with Gajeel had been their form of punishment for Shock – at first, she had thought it to be a far less severe punishment than what she had been expecting. Training with her partner after months of whiling away her time behind the bar in the guild hall – it sounded pretty good to her, in fact. But after two solid weeks of Gajeel's incessant drills and punishing routine, she was starting to see the method behind Makarov's madness.

"Excuse me for a moment while I catch my breath," she sneered, gasping in mouthfuls of air at a time.

Gajeel just grinned wickedly and cracked his knuckles. "No use catching your breath when you're just going to lose it again."

Shock groaned loudly, shoulders slumping in defeat. She swore he was making this as difficult as possible on purpose – he probably enjoyed seeing her suffer, the sadistic wretch.

"Enough of your whining, we have work to do," Gajeel sauntered past his exhausted partner, dragging her along by the collar of her jacket when she didn't move.

Shock just stumbled along behind him, limbs aching and wishing fervently that she wasn't so fatigued – she would have loved to clock him over the back of the head with her fist for thinking he could lead her around like some sort of _pet_.

"I can walk by myself, _thank you very much_," she bit out through clenched teeth, managing to shrug out of Gajeel's grip. With some difficulty, she straightened to her full height and marched on ahead.

Gajeel paused for a moment, watching his partner stride ahead like all of her fatigue had melted away in an instant. It kind of reminded him of when he and Shock had first met – she had barely been able to walk by herself back then too, but had still refused any assistance until it was literally forced upon her. He smirked. She had definitely changed a lot since then. His smirk widened into an almost feral grin – her pride was going to cause her a lot more trouble than it was worth, that was for sure.

Starting after Shock before she got too far, Gajeel snickered. "By the time I'm done with you, walking by yourself will be the least of your problems."

…

"I said dodge it!" there was a thunderous crack as Gajeel's metal fist collided with a nearby tree, splintering it into a pile of sawdust in the process.

Shock had just managed to roll out of the way of the attack, landing in a defensive crouch as she watched her partner retract his arm. Heart racing with adrenaline, she made a grab for her water charm. But before her hand could grasp it, another one of Gajeel's powerful attacks sent her sprawling out of its path.

"Didn't I say you weren't allowed to use those?" he growled, snapping his arm back and rolling his shoulder. He scowled at her. "You're not taking this seriously enough, squirt."

Shock rolled her eyes and snorted disdainfully. "Of course I'm taking this seriously! I'd just like not to get beaten to death with those iron clubs you call hands – and how do you expect me to defend myself if I'm not allowed to use my only weapons?"

Gajeel's scowl morphed to a smirk. "That's the fun part."

"You have got to be kidding me," Shock muttered under her breath, springing back to her feet as Gajeel readied himself for another swing at her.

"That's what you've got to realise, pipsqueak," he chuckled menacingly as he pulled his arm back. "You won't have those pretty little trinkets of yours to fall back on in every battle."

Shock started to run for the tree line bordering the edge of the training ring. She'd have to make sure he couldn't get a clear shot at her with his iron fists. Gajeel snickered at her tactic – she was a smart one. He began to power up his attack as she ran.

"The only thing you can rely on in battle," Gajeel hurled his metallic arm forwards, straight towards the treeline, "is _yourself!_"

Shock gritted her teeth and dove behind the nearest tree as she entered the treeline. She could hear the ominous whistle of Gajeel's rapidly extending fist as it hurtled towards her. She had just barely hit the ground when the tree next to her exploded in a shower of splinters and dead leaves. She hissed and covered her face with her arms to protect her eyes from the sharp little projectiles flying around in every direction. As the dust settled, Shock wasted no time in pushing herself to her feet and sprinting deeper into the woods – limiting Gajeel's range with his fists was one way to level the playing field. And with her smaller size, it also presented the opportunity to use stealth and the element of surprise to her advantage.

She scowled as she ran, dodging and weaving between thick tree trunks and leaping over gnarled roots on the forest floor. Gajeel certainly wasn't one to play fair – there he was, using his own embedded magical abilities to dish out the punishment, but she wasn't allowed to retaliate with magic of her own simply because it wasn't part of her natural state of being.

Shock bit her tongue as another shockwave from Gajeel's prolonged attacks sent her stumbling at full-tilt into another tree. She hissed as the rough bark skinned the palms of her hands, but she kept moving. He could keep charging around like a bull in a china shop – that suited her just fine.

It made it easier for her to track his movements.

While Gajeel had brute strength on his side, Shock was a lot faster. She used this to her advantage, disappearing into the bowels of the woods and hoping Gajeel would stop smashing it to bits. Her plan wouldn't be worth anything if her cover was just a huge pile of sawdust. She slowed to a jog when the sound of splintering trees was just a dull crackle behind her. Pausing to catch her breath, Shock surveyed her surroundings – the trees in this part of the woods were tall and looked sturdy enough to climb. Summer was starting to creep back into the area, and the limbs of the trees were covered in a thick layer of leaves – perfect for hiding in.

Shock turned her attention back to the sounds around her. No birds sang in the trees - they had probably all been frightened off by Gajeel's rampage - but it sounded like he had finally stopped smashing things to bits. An eerie silence descended upon the woods. Shock smirked – the chances of her surprise attack working were pretty high if things stayed like this.

Casting a furtive glance over her shoulder to make sure the coast was still clear, Shock began scaling the nearest tree with the thickest leaves. It had been ages since she had last climbed a tree of any sort, but once she was a quarter of the way up the trunk and had found her rhythm, the rest came as naturally as it had when she was a child. Resting on a high branch, Shock yanked her tank top over her charms to stop their constant clinking and rustling. Since she had been banned from using them during this training session, Shock knew she should have left them behind at the guild hall with Levy – but she couldn't bring herself to part with her charms for even the briefest of moments. In hindsight, it was not the best policy to follow.

Shock crouched on the sturdy tree limb and began her wait. She knew the chances of Gajeel passing under her particular tree were slim, but she was hoping he would follow the trail she had deliberately left through the undergrowth. If not, she had to keep a sharp ear out for any unusual sounds in the woods so she could adjust her position to the path he had decided to take. It took a few minutes before Shock finally heard the sounds of Gajeel making his way through the dense undergrowth of the woods – it seemed as though luck was on her side. She sniggered under her breath – he really did march around like a bull in a china shop, he had absolutely no sense of stealth. But then again, with iron-hard attacks like his, what need did he have for stealth?

Shock rolled her eyes at the thought and readied herself for the attack, waiting tensely as she scanned the ground below for any signs of her partner. She kept as still as possible, determined not to make a single sound until he was right underneath her.

Suddenly, Gajeel's heavy footfalls stopped. Shock strained her ears for any noise – the rustle of a bush, or even the sound of his breathing – but there was nothing. Suddenly very uneasy, Shock shifted slightly on her perch, carefully searching her immediate area for any sign of him. All she could see were tree trunks and bushes. A slight creaking noise somewhere to her left was Shock's only warning to abandon her position at light speed before a solid metal club smashed into the tree she had been perched in mere seconds before. Amidst the spray of debris, Shock muttered a few choice curses under her breath as she hit the ground, rolling on impact. She didn't wait around for her partner to make his appearance – she started running again, not keen to be on the receiving end of one of his trademark blows.

Shock was seething – although whether it was with herself or Gajeel she wasn't entirely sure. That clever bastard had managed to see straight through her plan. Was she too predictable? Was he a smarter tactician than he let on? Or had it just been dumb luck? A gap in the leaf cover he had managed to spot her through?

No matter, the fact still remained that Shock had to come up with a new strategy – something completely out of the box; something that Gajeel would never see coming. In other words, something completely opposite to what she would normally do.

Even though Gajeel and Shock had never formally trained with one another since becoming team mates, it was obvious to the charm mage that during the few times they had fought together on missions, he had been paying attention to her fighting style. Well, he had yet to see the tactician in her.

"You're going to have to come up with something a lot better than that if you wanna win this thing, squirt!" Gajeel's mocking voice echoed through the trees behind her as Shock ran.

Gritting her teeth to stop a sharp retort slipping out, she kept going. She could hear Gajeel ploughing through the scrub behind her, probably grinning like a maniac because he thought he had her cornered. A thought suddenly occurred to Shock, and she let a twisted grin of her own form.

She veered off sharply to the right and dove into the thick underbrush between the trees, completely concealing herself in the dense bushes. Knowing time was of the essence – it would be a matter of moments before Gajeel passed her hiding place – Shock quickly flipped herself onto her stomach and tensed her legs, ready to spring. Peering through a gap in the leaves, she watched carefully for her partner's approach.

It wasn't long before Gajeel came tearing through the woods, the aforementioned maniacal grin still plastered on his face with the thrill of the hunt. Shock smirked for a split second before launching herself out of her hiding place. She sped over the distance separating her and her target, spearing him neatly in the ribs as he passed. The two of them hit the ground and rolled with the force of impact, Shock managing to keep her hold on her partner's shoulders as they tumbled through bushes and piles of leaf litter. Once the pair had skidded to a halt, Gajeel wasted no time in flinging Shock off of him, and jumping to his feet. But, before he had managed to get hid guard up again, Shock had already sprang to her feet and proceeded to tackle him to the ground yet again. She was determined to win this sparring match.

Gajeel hit the ground with a grunt of surprise, Shock's weight on his chest driving the air from his lungs. She had probably landed with her knees in his gut on purpose. Gajeel bucked his entire body to the side to try and throw Shock off balance, but she used the movement against him and managed to flip him over onto his stomach. Growling, Gajeel tried to right himself, but Shock was already sitting squarely on his back. Even though she was so much lighter, and Gajeel could have easily thrown her off, Shock had somehow managed to hook her feet underneath some nearby protruding tree roots. He was locked down.

Shock smirked, sensing Gajeel's seething, enraged indignance at being pinned by the 'lesser-experienced' member of their partnership. She noticed his left arm curling into a fist, and grabbed hold of it before he could initiate another one of his speciality attacks. She twisted his arm halfway up his back, earning a growl of protest from the dragonslayer.

"You sure know how to fight dirty, don't you?" he hissed menacingly, turning his head slightly to glare at her through the corner of his eye.

Shock just smirked and laughed. "Coming from you?"

"You just wait til I get up-"

"Oh come now, Gajeel. Don't be a sore loser," Shock interjected smugly, twisting his arm a little higher to make her point. "I think we both know that I've won this little sparring match."

Gajeel growled, teeth bared. She laughed again, but shuddered slightly on the inside. She knew it wasn't going to be a pretty sight when she eventually had to let him up again. Shock was already formulating a way to get up and away in light speed.

"You may have won this round, pipsqueak," Gajeel snarled menacingly, his shoulders tensing, "but don't think I'll make our next training session this easy."

"The fact that I wasn't allowed to use any magic at all counts as _easy_?" she snorted disbelievingly.

"I could have made you do it with your hands tied behind your back, too," her partner smirked.

Shock just rolled her eyes. "You're so generous," she drawled sarcastically, digging her knee into the small of his back.

Gajeel snarled violently, and Shock knew it was time to stop pushing her luck. Sniggering, she eased herself off of her partner's back, being careful to still keep a firm hold on his twisted arm. She slowly wiggled her boots free from the tree root anchors and scouted her immediate area for the fastest escape route. Having found a suitable path with the least obstructions, Shock smirked as she said,

"Until next time, loser!"

In a flash, she was gone, hurtling down the woodland path at light speed. Letting out an enraged roar, Gajeel was on his feet in a nanosecond, tearing down the path after his fleeing partner.

Hearing what sounded like an inhuman beast charging through the trees behind her, Shock doubled her speed, grinning wildly. Laughter bubbled in the back of her throat, although it was tinged with a hint of panic.

It felt good to have things back to some semblance of normality between her and Gajeel.

**I've got a few more filler chapters lined up to sort of build on Shock and Gajeel's relationship, I promise they won't be boring ^^;**

**Thanks so much for all the support! As always, constructive feedback is much loved ^3^**


	14. Attack

**I think this chapter was done in record time! ^^;**

**Big big thanks to my awesome beta, Aikoyu Saotome :D**

**Kaito: Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it ;) Expect more where that came from, in due course XD That sounds even better than icecream *v* And thanks, the same to you! It's never too early to start being festive XD **

**Synk: I'm happy you liked it XD she's got some fire in her, that's for sure ;D**

14. Attack (30 Seconds to Mars)

**I won't suffer, be broken, get tired, or wasted  
>Surrender to nothing, or give up what I<br>Started and stopped it, from end to beginning  
>A new day is coming, and I am finally free<strong>

**Run away, run away, I'll attack**  
><strong>Run away, run away, go chase yourself<strong>  
><strong>Run away, run away, now I'll attack<strong>  
><strong>I'll attack, I'll aa-WHOOOAAAAAAAAA<strong>

**I would have kept you, forever, but we had to sever**  
><strong>It ended for both of us, faster than a<strong>  
><strong>Kill off this thinking, it's starting to sink in<strong>  
><strong>I'm losing control now, and without you I can finally see<strong>

**Run away, run away, I'll attack**  
><strong>Run away, run away, go chase yourself<strong>  
><strong>Run away, run away, now I'll attack<strong>  
><strong>I'll attack, I'll aa-WHOOOAAAAAAAAA<strong>

**Your promises, they look like lies**  
><strong>Your honesty, like a back that hides a knife (knife)<strong>  
><strong>I promise you (promise you)<strong>  
><strong>I promise you (promise you)<strong>  
><strong>And I am finally free<strong>

**Run away, run away, I'll attack**  
><strong>Run away, run away, go chase yourself<strong>  
><strong>Run away, run away, now I'll attack<strong>  
><strong>I'll attack, I'll attack, I will attack<strong>

**Run away, I'll attack, I will attack**  
><strong>Run away, I'll attack, I will attack<strong>

**Run away (Run away), I'll attack (I'll attack)**  
><strong>I'll aa-WHOOOAAAAAAAAA<strong>

**Your promises**  
><strong>(promises, promises)<strong>  
><strong>I promise you<strong>  
><strong>(promise you)<strong>  
><strong>I promise you<strong>  
><strong>(promise you, promise you)<strong>

"_Shock? Shock, wake up already!"_

_The whispered voice sounded urgent, rousing her from her state of near-unconsciousness. Someone was shaking her shoulder roughly, and she pushed herself up onto her forearms, blinking groggily._

"_Stop that!" she mumbled, her voice still heavy with drowsiness. "'m up already, sheesh."_

"_We've got to get out of here," the voice carried on, sounding more and more urgent with every hushed syllable. "While the guards are still sleeping, hurry up!"_

_Shock sat up quickly, suddenly wide awake. She glanced around her – she was in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. It was early morning, judging by the freshness of the air and the waning chirps of the crickets. The sun had yet to rise, and everything was still dark. Sleeping figures dotted the clearing, covered in rough woollen blankets. Shock remembered who they were – bastards from the military, herding her off to some foreign conscription camp for their own sinister purposes. _

_Shock's attention was garnered by the shadowy figure perched in front of her, waving their hand in front of her face. "Are you even listening to me? I said let's go!"_

_Shock made a move to rise, but stopped short when her ankle met some resistance. "How do you expect me to get going when I've got the damn ankle chain on, Emil?" she whispered angrily. "Or did you forget about that?"_

_Emil just snorted under his breath and produced a ring of keys from somewhere about his person. Careful not to jangle them together and otherwise alert the still-slumbering guards, the young boy set to work on freeing Shock's ankle. In a matter of seconds, the steel cuff fell open. Shock stepped out of it gingerly, not used to having the freedom of moving her left leg unhindered. She rubbed her ankle tenderly – blistered and bruised from the constant chafing of her confines over the past two weeks, it was still going to be a pain to walk. _

"_Where's the sentry?" she asked her companion quietly, scanning the tree line. She edged away from the spot where she had been chained for the night, readying herself to bolt. "And how did you get the keys?"_

_In the darkness, Shock could almost hear Emil rolling his eyes. The two of them had been close friends back in the village, before the military had swept in and snatched them up. Being two years older, Emil was usually the one to take charge of the situation, and thought it his mission to protect Shock. His constant coddling irritated her sometimes – she could take care of herself perfectly fine. She had been doing just great by herself in the few months since her mother had passed away. She didn't need someone constantly looking over her shoulder. _

"_You think snatching a bunch of keys would be hard for a former street rat?" he sighed irritably. "And the sentry buggered off to take a piss or something, which is why we should be leaving now!"_

_Keeping close being Emil in the early morning darkness, Shock crept towards the treeline as silently as she possibly could. Her heart was beating loudly in her throat, and she was petrified someone would hear it. The pair slunk as silently as field mice to the tree line, and Shock glanced over her shoulder one last time to make sure no one had woken and discovered their escape. When no one stirred, they disappeared into the shadows._

…

_Chests heaving, gangly limbs pumping furiously, the two children tore through the forest with reckless abandon, not caring if they made too much noise any longer. They were a good two hours away from the clearing where their captors had set up camp, and were pretty sure no one had noticed their departure until they were long gone. The sun had just started filtering through the densely packed trees, illuminating the way forwards for the pair of runaways. _

_Shock's throat was burning and her sides were cramping, but she knew she couldn't slow down. When the military officials found they were missing, they'd be sure to be on the hunt. She and Emil had to find a town or some form of civilisation – someone would help them, she was sure of it. _

_The two of them leaped over bushes and protruding tree roots as if they were hurdles, pushing themselves off of tree trunks to keep their momentum going. Shock's charms thudded against her back in the small cloth bag she had managed to hide them in, jangling together loudly as she ran. She shifted the satchel around, clutching it to her chest to silence her precious keepsakes. Emil cast her frequent glances over his shoulder to make sure she was keeping up. For once, Shock was too preoccupied with getting away from the military to be annoyed at his overprotectiveness. _

_A loud braying sound echoed from the forest behind them, and Shock's blood ran cold. The dogs. How could they have forgotten about the dogs?_

_Petrified of the hellish hounds on their trail, Shock and Emil doubled their speed to such an extent that the braches whipping past them left lacerations on their arms as they went. Shock grimaced in a mixture of pain and dread – the dogs were sure the track them by the blood splattered leaves left in their wake. _

_But she needn't have worried about the dogs tracking them – being so young and weakened by weeks of non-stop forced marches, Shock and Emil were beginning to tire. Shock found it hard to get her legs moving in the direction she wanted them to – she started bouncing off trees as she ran, her limbs flailing around wildly to keep her balance. Emil began to stumble frequently, often grazing his knees on fallen logs as he struggled to keep on his feet. Chests burning and sides heaving, both children knew it wouldn't be long before they either collapsed from exhaustion or were pounced upon by the savage beasts on their trail._

_With the braying and howling of the dogs getting louder and louder as they inched closer and closer to their prey, Shock began to lose hope. She had been foolish to think for even a second that they had a chance to escape. They were out in the middle of nowhere, with no idea how close the nearest civilised establishment was, or even how near they were to anything vaguely hinting at a human population. They had no food or water, no idea where they were going, and no weapons. Running away had been almost like a death sentence._

_And now they had another form of a death sentence breathing down their necks._

_Shock's foot caught in a protruding root and she crashed to the ground, skidding a good few feet before slamming against the trunk of a tree. She cried out in pain, clutching her ankle with one hand and her head with the other._

"_Shock!" Emil skidded to a halt, turning around and coming back for her. "You need to get up, they'll be here any moment!"_

"_I can't!" she wheezed, her head swimming from a combination of the blow against the tree and a lack of oxygen. "My ankle… I think I sprained it."_

_Emil cursed loudly, looking around quickly for any signs of the hunting dogs. The barking and howling was getting closer and closer. "Come on," he grunted, pulling Shock to her feet and supporting her weight on his shoulder. "You've got to at least try."_

_Shock gritted her teeth, swallowing a groan as she gingerly put some weight on her swollen ankle. Spikes of pain flared from the joint whenever she tried to stand on it, but she swallowed it down. Pushing away from Emil, she began jogging again – this time with a pronounced limp._

"_Come on, we should keep moving."_

_Emil joined her, and Shock pushed the pain to the back of her mind, picking up speed. _

_Heart thundering in her throat, it almost stopped completely when the vicious snarl of a hunting dog sounded right behind her. Shock screamed as a force hit her square in the back, a maw full of razor-sharp teeth clamping down on her shoulder. She screamed again, trying to throw the dog off of her, but to no avail._

"_Shock!" Emil cried, stopping in his tracks, watching her in horror. _

_Before he could make a move towards her, Shock shouted, "No! Don't worry about me, you have to go!"_

"_I can't just leave you here!" he protested, taking another hurried step closer._

_Shock gritted her teeth and punched the dog on her back right in the snout. It yelped, releasing her shoulder and shaking its head roughly. Shock seized the opportunity to shove it away from her, flipping herself over onto her backside. She glared at Emil over her shoulder. _

"_If you don't leave now, the guards will be here soon and that'll be the end of you!" she snapped, kicking the dog away with her good leg as it made another lunge at her. The braying of its pack mates continued to grow louder and louder. _

"_I'm not abandoning you!" Emil shouted, making a grab for her good arm. _

_Shock slapped his hand away. "I'll act as a diversion. It's better for one of us to at least make it out than neither!"_

"_But-"_

"_NO BUTS, EMIL!" Shock screeched. Even the advancing hound shrank back at her tone, ears flattened against its skull for a moment. "GO! NOW!"_

_Shock didn't even look over her shoulder as her childhood friend hesitantly disappeared into the underbrush. The heaviness on her heart dissipated a little bit at the thought that he would hopefully make it far enough away in time, and escape the military hounds on their trail._

_With renewed determination, Shock stared down the approaching hellhound. She made direct eye contact with the beast, daring it to charge again. Her shoulder throbbed, blood soaking her shirt. The hound snarled menacingly, hackles raised. Refusing to be intimidates, she bared her teeth. The dog copied her expression, revealing a pair of rather large, razor-sharp incisors, glistening with drool. It growled low in its throat, preparing to spring. _

_A growl of her own reverberating in the back of her throat, Shock tensed._

_The beast sprang._

_Shock screamed._

The charm mage bolted upright in her bed so quickly that she almost flew out of it. She clutched her sheets in a white-knuckle grip, heart hammering and breath short. Beads of perspiration ran down her back, between her shoulder blades, and she shuddered. She thought the nightmares were over. She had thought that the flashbacks would have stopped by now, nearly two years after escaping the camp.

But she guessed she had been wrong.

Shock took a few deeps breaths to calm her erratic heartbeat, wiping the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. She closed her eyes for a moment, running her other hand over her face. She sighed, shoulders slumping. She could have laughed at the fact that after so many years apart, her mind could even still remember so much about Emil. She had even been able to remember the freckles on the bridge of his nose, how one of his eyes was blue and the other hazel, how he'd always had that one spot of hair that refused to stay down, no matter how long he'd teased it with either his fingers or a comb.

Shock ran her fingers through her hair, working out some of the knots that had formed with her tossing and turning. Even after so many years, she still wondered where the hell that kid had ended up. If he'd even been able to get away from the military. She kind of missed him.

She glanced over at her side table, the time on her clock illuminated in bold red numbers.

_1:20 am._

Shock grumbled irritably, rolling her eyes as she resisted the urge to smack herself in the face. There went another night of sleep. She sat in silence for a few more moments before throwing the covers off and hauling herself out of bed. It was no use just lying there in the dark when it was obvious that sleep would elude her the whole night.

Shock fumbled around in the dark for a minute or two, muttering curses under her breath when she kicked more than one piece of hardwood furniture. Finally, she found her desk lamp and flicked it on, leaning against the table for a moment as a yawn assailed her. She scratched the back of her neck, deciding what would be the best way to while away the hours until daybreak.

Shock glanced around her sparse room – there was nothing much in it besides the furniture and her clothes. She wasn't really one for being materialistic at the best of times. She peered through her shutters at the dark landscape outside. Erza was sure to have locked the front door of the boarding house long ago, but Shock knew where the keys were. She needed some fresh air to clear her head and get rid of the unsettling feeling weighing heavy in the pit of her stomach.

Shock shuffled over to her cupboard and pulled out a pair of cargo pants and a tank top. After a moment's hesitation, she pulled out her bomber jacket as well. Tossing the clothing items on her unkempt bed, she scrounged around for her boots. Yanking them out from under the bed, Shock dumped them in a pile next to her bedside table and yanked off the baggy T-shirt she had been sleeping in. She paused, regarding the clothing ensemble on her mattress.

It was always the same – baggy cargo pants that were comfortable and easy to move around in. They didn't show much, either. Tank tops – great for keeping cool during training, and they basically went with anything so she didn't have to worry about matching outfits or anything silly like that. The bomber jacket was basically her only means of keeping warm in the winter. Shock didn't really feel the need to buy any other coats – a mind-set inherited from the camp. You used what you were given and didn't get a replacement until the old one was beyond repair.

And then, her trusty combat boots – sturdy, warm in the winter, had a good grip on them for running, and they would most likely endure the apocalypse. All of her clothing was practical – no fashion nonsense or compromising comfort for the sake of style. It wasn't the most exciting collection of clothes, but it had always done the job. Once again, it was another habit retained from the conscription camp.

Shock wasn't sure if she was irritated by the fact, or indifferent. Her clothing suited her needs, whether it be a left-over teaching from the camp or not.

Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, Shock dressed quickly and quietly made her way out of her room. She padded down the dark corridor, especially careful not to wake any of the other girls who were sure to be fast asleep. Shock envied them.

She ghosted down the stairs and rounded the corner, coming face to face with the locked front door. Shock trailed her hand over the wall to her left until her fingers found the hook with the door keys suspended from it. She lifted them free and felt around for the right key. Having found it, she slotted it into the front door and unlocked it, leaving the keys in the lock and slipping outside into the cool early-morning air. Closing the door softly behind her, Shock shoved her hands in her pockets and trudged off the porch and up the winding pathway, towards the town.

On her walk, Shock was reminded just how peaceful Magnolia was before the hustle and bustle of the day started – the only sounds were the chirps of the crickets and the crunch of her boots on gravel as she walked. A slight breeze blew in from the north, rustling the trees gently.

Shock let her feet guide her, and pretty soon she found herself on the banks of the river. A small overhang had been built over the water, a rest stop for anyone travelling along the broad walkway following the river through the town. She paused, scanning the area around her. Tendrils of light had begun to creep in through the night sky, painting the few scattered wisps of clouds bright gold and pink. Shock let out another world-weary sigh and made her way over to the bench just behind the guardrail. She sat down and leaned back, drawing her legs up and resting her feet on the top of the railing. She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin atop them as she looked out over the river.

The quiet gurgle of the water had a calming effect on Shock's turbulent thoughts. She allowed her mind to empty itself of everything but the sound of the water, letting it wash over her and dissipate the uneasy feeling that had been churning around in her chest.

"Can't say I would have expected you up and around at this time of the morning."

Shock spared a quick glance over her shoulder at the new comer before turning her attention back to the river. "Stranger things have happened."

Gajeel ambled around the bench and took a seat next to his partner. The two of them sat in silence for a while, just watching the water. It was the most peaceful Shock had ever seen her partner since joining Fairy Tail.

"So what are you doing up so early anyway?" she asked, scuffing one boot against the railing.

Gajeel snorted, the tiniest of wry smiles curving his mouth. "You're not the only insomniac in town, hate to break it to ya."

Shock chuckled. "Yeah, suppose I should have known better."

The pair sank into a companionable silence as they watched the sun slowly start its ascent. For a long time, the only sounds were the crickets and the bubbling river below. A sense of peace washed over Shock, something she hadn't felt in a long time. She allowed herself a small smile, settling back against the bench and snuggling deeper into her jacket.

Gajeel glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "What are you so happy about?"

"Not… happy, per say," Shock replied, "more like being the most at ease I've been in months. It's… nice."

"Never thought anyone would say that while they were around me," her partner sniggered, ruffling her hair.

Shock swatted his hand away and his snigger turned to a chuckle as she scowled, patting her hair down again. She smirked, smacking his arm playfully. "Maybe more people would say it if you weren't such a grouch all the time."

Gajeel just rolled his eyes. "We've been through this, pipsqueak – I am the literal definition of a grouch."

Shock snorted. "You do a damn good job at perfecting it, too."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Gajeel snickered. "I pride myself on perfection."

Shaking her head, Shock replied, "You're impossible, you know that?"

"Tell me something I don't already know," he sighed, grinning smugly

Shock just continued shaking her head, chuckling to herself. She had to admit, she hadn't been this comfortable around another person besides Levy since coming to Magnolia. While her relations with the other mages in the guild were steadily improving, it still hadn't progressed much further than friendly chit-chat and polite greetings.

As the sun continued to rise, and the sky lightened, Shock's chuckle faded to a small smile. Her expression softened. Despite the few little hiccups she had experienced in the last few months, she was happy with the way things were going. It could only be up from here.

**To all my wonderful readers,**

**If I don't manage to update before Christmas (I'm going away sometime in the next two weeks), I just want to wish all of you the best for the holiday season (whatever religion you follow) and a happy New Year! And thank you all so much for being the best readers a writer could ask for *3***

**BiFT**


	15. Come Away To The Water

The wait between chapters wasn't as long as last time thankfully XD mucho thanks for the patience and support, guys :) and another shout out to my brilliant beta :D

Okay so just a fair warning that updates will be a lot fewer and far apart because it's the last year of school for me and never before have I been snowed under with so much work -_-"

**Synk** - I'm glad you liked it! Here's the next one for you! :D

**imjaypaw** - Here it is, sorry it took a little longer than anticipated ^^;

15. Come Away to the Water (Maroon 5 ft. Rozzi Crane)

Come away little loss

Come away to the water

To the ones that are waiting only for you

Come away little loss

Come away to the water

Away from the life that you always knew

We are calling to you

Come away little light

Come away to the darkness

In the shade of the night we'll come looking for you

Come away little light

Come away to the darkness

To the ones appointed to see it through

We are calling for you

We are coming for you

Come away little lamb

Come away to the water

Give yourself so we might live anew

Come away little lamb

Come away to the slaughter

To the ones appointed to see this through

We are calling for you

We are coming for you

Come away little lamb

Come away to the water

To the arms that are waiting only for you

Come away little lamb come away to the slaughter

To the one appointed to see this through

We are calling for you

We are coming for you

We are coming for you

We are coming for you

"Didn't I say not to touch anything?" Gajeel's irritated voice drifted from the corridor behind Shock, and she started guiltily, almost dropping the small figuring cradled in her palm.

She clutched it to her chest to keep it from tumbling out of her hand, turning slightly and offering her partner a sheepish smile. He remained unimpressed with her disregard for his rules, snorting and rolling his eyes as he pulled his arm through the other sleeve of his coat.

"I swear, can't leave you on your own for a fucking second," he grumbled, heading towards the door of his rather small apartment. "Come on, I got what I needed. Time to head out again."

Shock and Gajeel had been in the middle of a training session when the weather had suddenly decided to take a turn for the worst. Since Shock had brought her bomber jacket with, as she always did, Gajeel had taken it upon himself to nab a coat of his own. Probably so as not to be shown up by his partner's apparently superior forward thinking. As well as they had been getting along recently, the two of them still had a bit of a rivalry going. And so Shock had finally gotten a glimpse of Gajeel's living space – it was surprisingly close to their training grounds, albeit in the seedier part of town. When asked why he lived in such a place, Gajeel's standard response was, "I choose to stay here – it keeps me on my toes; makes sure I don't go soft or anything like that."

It was a small two-room apartment – one room was a combination of a living room and kitchen, and the other was Gajeel's bedroom. Shock had been ordered to stay in the front area of the living room, and that's when her eye had been drawn to the small jade figurine perched on the end of a small, weathered shelf near the door. It was a finely carved dragon, small enough to fit comfortably in the palm of her hand. The detail on it was mesmerising – Shock could see every individually carved scale and ridge perfectly. What had intrigued her so much about the figurine was that it was so out of place in Gajeel's apartment – there were tin cans and other assorted metal products lying all over the place, cluttered up on the wonky coffee table and piled against the back wall. Some of them had chunks bitten out of them. Something so delicate and ornamental definitely looked out of place in the metallic chaos.

Placing the figurine back on the shelf, Shock followed her partner out into the corridor. As Gajeel locked the door behind them, she ran her eyes over the cracked and peeling wallpaper; the spots of damp in the wavy ceiling; the naked light bulbs flickering dimly every five or six paces down the hall.

"Enough gawking, let's go." Shock frowned one last time at the dilapidated hallway and followed Gajeel down the creaky stairs.

Back out on the street, it was still drizzling. A thick blanket of ashen grey clouds hung low over the town, making everything seem even more dim and dreary. Gajeel cast one look at the sky, frowned and huffed. "No use trying to get any more training done today with weather like this. Might as well go get a drink."

Shock smirked, pulling the collar of her coat up to shield her neck from the icy drizzle as they walked. "I'd never have thought you would abandon training over a little rain."

Gajeel just rolled his eyes and shoved his hands deep into his pockets, hunching down into his coat. "I'm not keen to catch a cold while watching you run around in the rain for a couple hours."

"So you'd rather go get drunk instead?" the charm mage chuckled, dodging the low-hanging umbrella of a passer-by.

"With a partner like you, it's a miracle I don't go out and get drunk more often," Gajeel muttered teasingly, nudging Shock into a puddle with his elbow.

She made a noise of protest as she stumbled into the rather large puddle, water sloshing up over the tops of her boots and soaking her pants up to the knees. Gajeel just chuckled at the look of outrage on her face and kept walking, a smug smirk on his face. Eyes narrowed, Shock just glared at her partner's back. Two could play at this little game.

Considering that her boots were already soaked, Shock thought nothing of kicking up a large wave of water and sending it splattering all over Gajeel's back. He stiffened as the frigid water seeped through his coat, and Shock laughed at his peeved expression as she sauntered past him.

"Touché, pipsqueak. Touché," he growled under his breath, stalking after her as they headed towards the guild hall.

…

The guild hall was nice and warm after the chill of the wet weather outside, and Shock sank down into one of the open barstools with a contented sigh. She spotted Levy down at the other end of the bar counter and waved at her, signalling her over with a smile as Gajeel slid into the seat next to her. The blue-haired solid script mage made her way over with a grin plastered on her face. She paused to reach for something underneath the bar and then stopped in front of Shock and Gajeel.

"It's been a while since you two have been in here," she grinned, leaning her elbow on the table as she directed the question at Shock.

The charm mage chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Can't say we've had much time to do anything else besides training." Shock shot a narrow-eyed look at her partner. "Gajeel's a hard task master, I think he enjoys seeing me suffer."

Gajeel just smirked. "I wasn't the one who stole the mission sheet, squirt. You gotta deal with the consequences now."

Shock just snorted, opening her mouth for a sharp reply, but Levy spoke first. "You might want to consider taking a little break from training," she laughed, bringing out a letter from behind the bar counter. She slid it over to Shock, shrugging at her questioning look. "It's from Lilia, arrived this morning."

Shock's eyes snapped down to the plain white envelope, instantly curious as to why someone from Lilia would suddenly be writing to her. It had been months since she had last been to her small hometown, and that was when she had saved it from a band of rogue mages. She hadn't seen or heard from any of the villagers since, and was expecting things to return to the way they had been before – with her completely cut off from any ties to her old life. But apparently, someone in Lilia had different ideas.

Shock carefully tore open the top of the envelope. It wasn't as if she didn't want anything to do with her old home town, in face she was rather pleasantly surprised that they were making the first move after so long. A small smile curved her mouth as she drew out a folded sheet of paper. It was yellow and water-stained, but the ink on it was still crisp and clear. The letter had probably been written no longer than a week prior. The handwriting was neat and flowing, not one she recognised.

_Shock,_

_I know you'll probably think it's strange to be getting a letter from us out of the blue like this, but Chiavelli insisted. If it had been up to me, I personally wouldn't have even bothered._

Shock snorted with a lop-sided grin. It definitely had to be Fizz. Only her sister would be so blunt and offhand without actually meaning anything. Shock smoothed out the page and continued reading.

_The town is doing better than it has in years, thanks to that magic stuff of yours you did the last time you rolled around. Those mages haven't come back, either. I won't ask what you did, because I probably don't even want to know. That hulking partner of yours probably had something to do with it too, which is another reason it would be better to keep the gory details to yourself._

_But besides all that, we have some unexpected visitors in town, which is why the old man made me write to you. It's a group of mercenaries from up north, somewhere near that blasted conscription camp you got dragged off to. Emil's with them._

_They'll be leaving in about a week to who knows where. Chiavelli thought you might want to come down and see him before he leaves, considering the two of you were bosom buddies the last time I checked._

_Personally, I'm not holding my breath – but it's your choice. Sammy says hi._

The letter ended there. Shock frowned, scanning through it again to make sure she had read it correctly. Emil? Back in Lilia? A sudden wave of mixed emotion washed over the charm mage - relief that Emil had managed to get away from the military; confusion as to why he had returned to Lilia only after so many years away; curiosity as to what he had been up to in all those years since they had been separated.

Suspicion as to why he was travelling with a group of mercenaries.

"Something the matter?" Levy asked worriedly, seeing the deepening frown lines on Shock's forehead.

She looked up, startled at the sudden question, and shook her head. "No, nothing's the matter, it's just…"

When Shock trailed off, looking back down at the note thoughtfully, Levy frowned. "They want you to come back, don't they?" she asked gently, leaning against the counter.

Shock sighed. "Sort of. Fizz says an old friend of mine is back in town, and I should pay a visit before he leaves."

"Wait, you have friends?" Gajeel snickered, looking down at his partner. But his jab was pointedly ignored by both his partner and the barmaid.

"The decision is completely up to you, but I think it would be nice for you to reconnect with some old friends," Levy offered with a smile.

"Hmm," Shock mused thoughtfully, eyes still trained on the letter on the bar counter. She was hesitant, to say the least. Not to be misunderstood, the charm mage was ecstatic that Emil was alright, and he was in Lilia to boot. She would jump at the chance to see him again. But there was a nagging suspicion at the back of her mind – something wasn't quite right. It was that whole mercenary business. Shock knew Emil – and she was sure he would never have willingly gotten involved with those kinds of people after his narrow escape from the military. It just didn't add up.

"So are you going back or not?" Gajeel's gruff tone interrupted her thoughts.

Looking from the note to her partner and back, Shock sighed and shrugged. "I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right about it."

"What could possibly feel off about seeing an old friend for a few hours?" Levy laughed, trying to lighten her friend's mood. "And it'll give you an excuse to visit your hometown again."

"You have a point," Shock agreed with a small laugh of her own. She'd been meaning to pay a visit to her parents' headstones for a while anyway, it would certainly provide the excuse she needed to go. But she just couldn't shake the feeling of unease creeping into the pit of her stomach. "But I'll see."

Shock stood from her barstool, adjusting her coat.

"Where are you going?" Gajeel asked, motioning for Levy to get him something from behind the bar, preferably alcoholic.

"Back to the boarding house. I need to think this over a little bit," she answered distractedly, tucking the letter into her jacket.

Gajeel just nodded. "Well when you finally make up your mind, tell me. I don't like being left in the dark."

"Since when where you so concerned about my private life?" Shock snickered with a smirk.

Levy returned with Gajeel's mug of what smelled like ale, and he chugged a good half of the glass before answering her. "You always seem to get yourself into trouble when I'm not around, I might as well come with you to make sure you get back in one piece."

The charm mage scoffed at his smug expression and flicked the back of his ear. Ignoring the dragonslayer's growl of protest, Shock turned to Levy and offered a parting smile before heading towards the door.

"I still think it would be a good idea to get out of town for a while," Levy added as she waved.

Shock shrugged with a small smile. "I'll see."

…

_It was the dead of night when the small party arrived before the gates of the conscription camp. The tall, barbed-wire topped fence encircling the compound was nothing more than an intimidating shadow against the pale moonlight, all sharp angles and steel spikes._

_Shock dragged her feet as she walked, surrounded on all sides by silent, violent military men. Her hands were bound behind her back, and the muzzle of a rifle levelled steadily at her back to make sure she wouldn't make another escape attempt. But with Emil gone, Shock wasn't even giving it a second thought. The fact that he had made it away safely was enough for her. Even if she did manage to get away somehow, there would be nowhere for her to go – there was nothing left in Lilia for her. Even Fizz probably thought of her as a deserter by now._

_So she just kept walking, mouth set in a grim line and eyes focused on a point somewhere in the distance. The familiar weight of her concealed charms bumped rhythmically against her lower back, underneath her dirty, ripped shirt._

_The small recon party paused just outside of the camp gates, waiting for them to open. Shock skimmed her gaze over what lay behind the gates. A long wood cabin stood perpendicular to the fence, running at least a hundred metres down into the camp grounds. Soldiers lined the covered veranda ringing the outside of the cabin, just watching._

_Watching and waiting. Completely silent, with their guns gripped loosely in their hands._

_The gates opened painfully slowly, almost antagonizingly – as if to drive home the message to the captives that they had, indeed, arrived in hell, and they should take a nice long look at it to get acquainted before the torture started._

_Shock turned her gaze away from the gates and tried to tune out the rattling of chains and grinding of metal on dirt. She looked beyond the soldiers' cabin, towards the never-ending rows of concrete barracks taking up all her remaining field of vision. They were low to the ground, and looked cold and foreboding in the pale moonlight. Not a single one of them had lights - not even a candle burning in a window. Squinting her eyes to scrutinize the buildings better, she discovered that none of them even had windows to speak of. Shock's stomach plummeted, and she wasn't sure whether the icy feeling creeping up her spine was dread or caused by the increasingly frigid wind howling all around her._

_Suddenly, the group was moving again. The soldiers kept a tight ring around their captives – all scared, vulnerable, abandoned children from neighbouring towns and villages, quivering and huddling together in the dark of the night – and herded them inside the compound._

_Shock kept her back straight and eyes dead-ahead, even when the cold metal of the rifle aimed at her back was thrust into the base of her neck to get her moving faster. She pursed her lips in a tight line, scanning the rows of soldiers on either side of the group, forming a sort of human gauntlet as the captives were led inside like lambs to the slaughter._

Shock's eyes snapped open, but she didn't move a muscle. The dreams were getting more frequent, the flashbacks all too vivid. Her stomach felt as though she had swallowed a lump of ice. Her breathing was quiet and shallow, and try as she might she couldn't get any more air into her lungs if she tried. It was as if a cinderblock was sitting on her chest. She closed her eyes again, pinching the bridge of her nose and concentrating on the chirp of the crickets outside. After a while, she felt the heavy weight dissipate, and she took in a long, deep breath. Her hand flopped down beside her on the mattress, and she listened intently to every creaking spring compressing and jumping back into position. Anything to distract her from the dream. The dream that had been the start of a nightmare.

Shock opened her eyes again, rolling onto her back. She stared at the ceiling, watching the flickering shadows of the trees jump between the ceiling boards as they flailed and twisted in the wind outside. She sighed, long and deeply. Rubbing the bridge of her nose to calm the pounding of the blood in her head, she sat up and swung herself out of bed. She immediately headed over to her closet, pulling out her usual set of clothes and grabbing her charm belt and jacket.

Her options were clear now. She had to get to Lilia.

She had to see Emil.

Maybe then, some of the skeletons in her closet could be laid to rest.

…

The walk to Gajeel's apartment in the fresh early-morning air did wonders to clear Shock's mind. She fell into a sort of numb autopilot, her feet finding the way by memory alone, even though she had only been there for the first time the day before.

It was early enough that the sun had yet to rise for another three hours at least, and the streets were still empty. Even the pickpockets and much less-reputable citizens of Magnolia had the common sense to still be in bed. Shock didn't know why she'd decided to inform Gajeel of her plans as soon as the choice had been made, but she felt that a walk would do well to distract her from her dreams. And she could deal with an irritated dragonslayer if it meant that she could delay her flashbacks for another few hours.

Soon enough, she was standing in the dim hallway outside her partner's apartment, hand raised and knocking once, twice, three times on the splintering door. The lights in the hallway flickered and swayed in the draft slipping in between the warped windowpanes lining the passage, throwing shadows in every which direction.

Shock was just about to knock again when she heard the rattle and click of the multitude of locks being undone on the inside of Gajeel's door. He opened it a crack to see what kind of fool would be knocking at such an absurd hour, narrowed his eyes at his partner, and shut the door again. More clicking and rattling was heard, and the door was pulled open to reveal a not-too-amused mage in a baggy shirt and sweatpants. Shock took in his appearance curiously. She hadn't figured Gajeel even owned a pair of sweatpants.

"You're lucky I'm an early riser," the black-haired mage grumbled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. "Now what the hell is so important that you had to come knocking at my door at three in the morning?"

Shock just shrugged, hands buried deep in the pockets of her bomber jacket. "Thought I'd just give you a heads up that I'm leaving for Lilia today, if you're still set on tagging along."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "You thought it was that important that you had to rush over and tell me straight away?"

Shock snorted and scowled. "Don't flatter yourself. I needed some fresh air and thought I may as well use the walk productively."

Her partner was silent for a moment, looking at her with an unreadable expression. Shock shifted uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny. "The nightmares again?"

Shrugging self-consciously, Shock became very interested in a spot of mildew on the hardwood floor between her boots. "They're becoming a nightly occurrence. I'm hoping if I get this visit out of my system, they'll tone down a little."

Another extended period of silence ensued, causing Shock to become even more fascinated by the mouldy floorboards. She heard Gajeel shift away from the doorframe and glanced up. He'd turned back to his apartment, but had left the door wide open.

"Stay there, I'll be right back," he commanded gruffly over his shoulder. "Might as well get some training done if we're both up this ridiculously early."

Shock stared at his retreating form for a little while, surprised. She had been expecting a rant from hell – an early-morning training session was a much more pleasant alternative. She snorted quietly and let a small smile slip out. Trust her partner to figure out a good distraction on the spot.

**_as always, reviews are love ;3;_**


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